Columbia  (HnitJersJftp 

THE  LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


RECOLLECTIONS 


OF  A 


LONG  LIFE 


BY 

JOSEPH  PACKARD,  D.  D. 

1812-1902 


EDITED  BY 

REV.  THOMAS  J.  PACKARD 


Washington,  D.  C, 

BYRON  S.  ADAMS,  PUhLISHSli    ';     '>' 

1,902,   ,,,      ,     -,  •   '^ 
I  >    ,  >  ,     >  J    '  >  '  ' 


Copyrighted  1902 
Thomas  J.  Packard 


<J  0  f '/^  t 


TO  MY  SISTER, 

CORNEIvIA  J.  PACKARD  , 

WHOSE  FILIAL  CARE  SOOTHED  AND  SUSTAINED  OUR  FATHER'S 

LATER  YEARS  THIS  VOLUME 

IS  DEDICATED. 


PREFACE. 

My  father  felt  a  deep  interest  in  biography,  but  was  persuaded 
that  it  should  be  confined  within  narrow  limits.  He  thought  that, 
as  Dean  Burgon  said,  while  yet  the  man  lived  freshly  in  the 
memory  of  his  friends,  while  his  sayings  were  remembered,  and 
his  aspect  and  demeanor  were  easily  recalled,  then  one  who  knew 
him  well  should  commit  to  paper  a  living  image  of  the  man, 
should  so  exhibit  him  that  later  generations  might  feel  that  they 
had  seen  and  known  him.  Many  of  the  world's  good  men  have 
no  personal  memorial  because  this  was  not  done. 

I  have  not  attempted  a  complete  biography  of  my  father,  but 
I  aided  him  in  preparing  for  the  press  these  Recollections  of  a 
Ivong  Ivife,  which  in  part  were  published  in  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Review  about  six  years  ago.  Subsequent  conversations  have 
added  more  material,  and  the  entire  work  has  been  carefully 
examined  and  re-edited.  His  published  discourses  and  the 
admirable  sketch  of  the  Alumni  by  Dr.  Dalrymple  have  also  been 
used.  His  Hfe  and  work  touched  many  other  lives,  therefore 
these  recollections  have  a  wider  interest  than  for  his  family  alone. 
I  trust  they  may  preserve  his  person  and  memory  from  oblivion. 

"The  greatest  thing  a  man  sometimes  leaves  is  not  a  book, 
but  a  personality.  The  greatest  book  in  the  world  is  so  great 
because  of  the  personality  that  is  in  it,  and  thus  in  their  degree 
with  all  others.  If  we  had  to  choose  between  a  mere  book  without 
a  living  personality  in  it  and  a  living  personality  without  a  book, 
we  should  prefer  the  last.  It  may  disappear  for  a  time  in  other 
lives,  but  it  has  done  its  work,  and  it  will  live  and  come  to  light 
in  its  results  on  a  day  when  the  sun  shall  no  more  go  down." 

THOMAS  J.  PACKARD. 
R0CKVI1.1.K,  Maryland, 

December  8,  1902. 


CONTENTS. 

PAOE 

I.     Birth  and  Parb;ntage 5 

II.     My  Father lo 

III.  Boyhood  and  Schooi.  Life i8 

IV.  Home  Life 26 

V.     Coi,i.EGE  Days 33 

VI.    Religious  Influences 45 

VII.    Andover  and  Moses  Stuart 53 

VIII.    BristoIv  College 63 

IX.    Coming  to  Virginia 68 

X.    The  Virginia  Seminary 76 

XL     My  First  Friends 90 

XII.     Life  in  Virginia 102 

XIII.     Marriage— General  Walter  Jones 114 

XIV.    Bishops  Moore  and  Meade 122 

XV.     Missionaries  and  Martyrs 139 

XVI.    Alexandria  and  Mount  Vernon 150 

XVII.     Doctors  Sparrow  and  May 167 

XVIII.     Episcopal  High  School  . 181 

XIX.     Bishop  Johns 193 

XX.     Virginia  Conventions 207 

XXI.    Some  Old  Friends 224 

XXII.    Washington  City  .    .  250 

XXIII.  War  Times 264 

XXIV.  Three  Mighty  Men  AND  Another 286 

XXV.    Later  Memories 308 

XXVI.    The  Revision  of  the  Bible 330 

XXVII.     One  Family  in  Heaven 337 

XXVIII.    Last  Days 347 

Index 359 


CHAPTER  I. 
BIRTH  AND   PARENTAGE. 


<  ( 


Much  have  I  seen  and  known, 
I  am  a  part  of  all  that  I  have  met. ' ' 

I  HAVE  been  often  asked  to  write  some  account  of  my  life.  It 
has  been  a  quiet  and  uneventful  one,  though  passed  during 
an  era  of  great  discovery  and  invention.  I  have  no  intention  of 
writing  an  autobiography,  but  shall  set  down  some  recollections 
of  things  and  people  as  I  have  known  them,  and  try  to  retouch 
the  fading  lines  of  country  life  in  New  England,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  past  century. 

Any  human  life,  however  humble,  has  some  value,  if  presented 
as  it  really  is.  Mine  may  have  some  interest  on  account  of  its 
length,  as  God  has  preserved  me  to  near  fourscore  and  ten  years,  and 
I  have  seen  nearly  the  whole  of  the  nineteenth  century.  I  wish 
to  preserve  some  picture  of  the  simple  life  of  eighty  years  ago, 
and  to  give  some  memories  of  the  many  noble  men  connected 
with  this  Seminary  and  the  Church  in  Virginia  and  elsewhere. 

The  favorite  subjects  of  science  now  are  Heredity  and  Environ- 
ment, and  no  doubt  both  have  much  to  do  in  making  us  what  we 
are.  A  brief  account  of  my  ancestry,  which  was  pure  English  on 
every  side,  may  interest  some  who  like  genealogy.  I  cannot  say, 
as  a  mayor  of  Baltimore  did  in  his  happy  after-dinner  speeches, 
that  "  I  feel  I  can  speak  to  Englishmen,  since  my  mother  was  of 
English  descent,  and  to  Irishmen,  since  my  uncle  lived  in  Ireland, 
and  to  Frenchmen,  since  my  grandfather  was  a  Huguenot,  and  to 
Germans,  since  my  grandmother  came  from  across  the  Rhine, 
and  to  Americans,  because  I  was  born  in  America  and  have  been 
many  times  mayor  of  Baltimore."  Nor  do  I  boast  of  the  titles 
and  honors  of  my  ancestors. 

"  My  boast  is  not  that  I  derive  my  birth 
From  loins  enthroned,  and  rulers  of  the  earth, 
But  higher  far  my  proud  pretensions  rise, 
The  son  of  parents  passed  into  the  skies." 

I  can  say  with  Marcus  Aurelius  that  I  am  indebted  to  God  for 

5 


6  Birth  and  Anckstry. 

having  good  grandfathers,  good  parents,  good  sisters,  good  teach- 
ers, good  associates,  good  kinsmen  and  friends,  nearly  every  thing 

good. 

I  was  born  in  Wiscasset,  Maine,  Wednesday,  December  23, 
1812,  the  year  of  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  was  the 
next  youngest  in  a  family  of  eight,  six  sons  and  two  daughters, 
in  the  sixth  generation  from  the  first  settler  of  1638.  The  year 
1812  was  the  birth  year  also  of  Bishop  Thomas  M.  Clark,  the  wise 
and  witty  lecturer,  able  preacher,  and  the  present  Presiding 
Bishop  of  our  Church,  of  Austin  Flint,  the  great  physician,  of 
Richard  M.  Hoe,  inventor  of  the  printing  press,  of  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  the  Confederate  vice-president. 

Some  interesting  events  took  place  in  that  year.  English  work- 
men first  commenced  the  manufacture  of  pins  in  New  York  with 
imported  machines,  price  one  dollar  a  paper  ;  the  first  rolling  mill 
at  Pittsburg  was  erected  and  the  first  cotton  mill  operated  at  Fall 

River,  Mass. 

In  May,  1812,  the  first  raising  of  the  American  flagon  a  school- 
house  took  place  at  Colrain,  Mass.,  and  Daniel  Webster  began 
his  political  career. 

Philadelphia  then  had  100,000  inhabitants  and  was  larger  than 
New  York  ;  Louisiana  was  admitted  as  the  eighteenth  State,  and 
the  first  steam  ferry-boat  in  this  country  began  to  run  between 
New  York  and  Hoboken,  and  the  first  steamboat  navigated  the 
Ohio  river.  I  remember  as  a  child  that  an  excursion  steamboat 
coming  to  Wiscasset  excited  great  curiosity  and  people  flocked  to 

see  it. 

My  father,  Hezekiah  (5)  Packard,  was  born  December  6,  1761, 
the  year  in  which  his  great-grandfather's  sister-in-law  died,  the 
second  and  the  fifth  generations  meeting  that  year. 

His  father,  Jacob  (4),  born  in  North  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  in 
1720,  married  Dorothy  Perkins,  and  had  ten  children,  whose  ages 
averaged  eighty  years  each.  One  of  them,  Mrs.  Thayer,  was  liv- 
ing in  1850,  aged  ninety-five  years.  Dorothy  Packard,  who  lived 
to  the  age  of  ninety-three,  with  faculties  good  to  the  last,  was  re- 
markable for  her  vigorous  sense,  strong  character,  and  piety.  She 
was  a  daughter  of  Dorothy  Whipple  and  Mark  Perkins,  who  was 
a  descendant  of  Roger  Conaut  and  Sarah  Horton.  Roger  Conant 
came  from  England  in  1623.  He  seceded  from  the  Plymouth 
Colony,  took  charge  of  a  company  which  settled  at  Salem,  Mass., 
and  was  Governor  there. 


The  Packard  Family.  7 

My  great-grandfather,  Solomon  (3)  Packard,  born  about  i6go, 
married  Susanna  Kingman,  whose  grandparents  were  killed  by 
the  Indians  in  1675,  on  their  way  to  the  fort  at  Fairhaven,  Conn., 
where  their  children  were  staying. 

My  great-great-grandfather,  Zaccheus  (2),  was  born  in  1653, 
and  married  Sarah  Howard,  whose  father,  John  Howard,  came 
from  England  and  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hingham,  Mass., 
in  1651. 

The  father  of  Zaccheus  was  Samuel  (i)  Packard,  who  came 
from  Wymondham,  Norfolk  County,  England,  with  seven  score 
other  passengers  in  the  ship  Diligence,  from  Ipswich.  He  settled 
first  at  Hingham,  Mass.,  and  thence  moved  to  West  Bridgewater, 
Mass.,  in  1638.  He  had  twelve  children,  and  was  probably  married 
when  he  came  over.  As  Professor  George  T.  Little  writes : 
"The  lives  and  characters  of  these  earlier  generations,  all  resi- 
dents of  Bridgewater,  Mass.,  were  of  the  type  their  Bible  names 
suggest,  and  were  marked  by  no  small  share  of  the  virtue  com- 
memorated by  the  vessel  which  bore  the  first  of  the  name  to  this 
country." 

A  nephew,  Robert  L.  Packard,  wrote  me  on  my  semi-centen- 
nial, "It  is  an  interesting  study  to  notice  how  the  tendency  to 
certain  things  runs  in  certain  families.  Not  a  diflBcult  thing  to 
explain  of  course,  on  account  of  early  precepts  and  example,  but 
still  interesting.  Thus  you,  3'our  father,  and  several  of  your 
brothers  and  relatives  have  been  instrumental  in  promoting  the 
spiritual  or  emotional  side  of  people's  characters.  Now  you  recol- 
lect that  the  first  person  of  our  name  of  whom  there  is  record, 
came  to  Massachusetts  in  1638  from  Norfolk,  England.  I  read 
in  Strype's  Ecclesiastical  Memorials  of  one  Thomas  Packard  (the 
name  spelt  as  we  now  spell  it)  who  was  a  dean  in  Bloody 
Mary's  reign  and  was  charged  with  the  investigation  of  certain 
deaneries  in  Norfolk  under  the  direction  of  that  amiable 
sovereign.  Cousin  Tom  may  like  to  reflect  on  that.  There 
is  the  interesting  fact  that  three  hundred  years  ago  a  member  of 
the  family  was  also  at  work  in  the  spiritual  or  intellectual  task  of 
being  superior  to  his  neighbors  and  pointing  out  the  way  to 
them." 

There  are  several  Packards  now  on  the  clergy  list  of  England 
working  near  Norfolk  County  in  important  positions. 

My  mother,  Mary  Spring,  born  in  1773,  was  the  daughter  of 
Rev.  Alpheus   (^5)   Spring,    who  married,   May  18,    1769,  Sarah 


8  The  Spring  Family. 

Frost,  daughter  of  Hon.  Simon  Frost,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  in 
1729,  and  long  in  public  life,  and  of  May  Sewall,  a  descendant  of 
Henry  Sewall.  who  came  from  Coventry,  England,  in  1634  and 
was  founder  of  this  New  England  family.  The  Frosts  were  a 
very  numerous  and  influential  family  ;  some  of  them  were 
prominent  in  the  Revolution,  and  handsome  monuments  now 
commemorate  them  near  York,  Maine. 

Mr.  Spring,  my  maternal  grandfather,  graduated  at  Princeton 
in  1766,  and  was  there  about  the  same  time  as  was  Charles  Lee, 
my  wife's  maternal  grandfather.  He  was  settled  over  the  west 
parish  of  Kittery,  now  Eliot,  Maine,  where,  after  a  pastorate  of 
twenty-three  years,  he  died  in  1791.  He  was  the  son  of  Henry 
(4)  Spring  and  Kezia  Converse,  and  his  grandparents  were 
Henry  (3)  Spring  and  Lydia  Cutting.  His  great-grandparents 
were  Henry  (2)  Spring  and  Mehitable  Bartlett.  John  (i)  Spring, 
born  in  1588,  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  Watertown, 
Mass.,  married  Elinor  ,  and  was  the  founder  in  this  coun- 
try of  this  family,  so  well  known  at  the  North. 

After  her  father's  death,  when  she  was  eighteen,  my  mother 
went  to  live  with  her  uncle.  Dr.  Marshall  Spring,  at  Watertown, 
near  Boston,  and  Horace  Binney,  a  cousin,  was  living  in  the  same 
house.  She  had  danced  in  Boston  at  a  ball  with  Lord  Lynd- 
hurst,  the  son  of  Copley,  the  painter.  There  she  became  ac- 
quainted with  some  very  cultivated  people,  among  them  Rev. 
Mr.  Buckminster,  who  was  a  very  famous  preacher,  as  was  also 
his  son,  Rev.  Joseph  S.  Buckminster.  My  mother  was  of  a  retir- 
ing disposition,  but  possessed  superior  powers  and  culture  and 
marked  character.  She  had  a  wonderful  memory,  and  I  can  re- 
member her  repeating  long  pieces  of  poetry  to  us.  She  was  mar- 
ried in  1794,  and  she  carried  to  her  home  in  Chelmsford  and 
thence  to  Wiscasset  the  culture  and  tastes  of  her  early  life.  While 
she  turned  her  spinning  wheel  (to  quote  Prof.  Egbert  C.  Sraythe, 
D.  D.)  in  her  rural  home  by  the  Sheepscot,  and  wove  garments 
for  her  household.  Pope's  translation  of  the  Odyssey  was  spread 
open  at  one  end  of  the  machine,  so  that  as  she  paced  to  and  fro, 
a  line  could  be  caught  at  each  return.  Her  memory  was  stored 
with  facts  of  history  and  passages  from  her  favorite  authors, 
which,  repeated  by  her,'  were  the  delight  of  her  children  ;  and 
often  while  too  busy  herself  with  domestic  cares  to  turn  a  page 
or  glance  at  a  book,  some  one  of  the  family  under  her  untiring 
encouragement  and  skillful   direction  would   read  aloud  for  the 


Eighteenth  Century  Life.  9 

benefit  of  all.  These  mothers  of  men,  how  like  the  thick-set  stars 
in  our  nightly  skies  do  they  shine  upon  us  whenever  our  eyes  are 
open  to  discern  the  influences  that  have  made  our  nation  great 
and  strong.  My  mother  remembered  Rev.  Joseph  Moodj^  of 
York,  Maine,  who  wore  a  black  veil  (see  Hawthorne's  Tale,  The 
Minister's  Black  Veil).  In  early  life  he  had  accidentally  killed 
a  beloved  friend  and  from  that  day  till  death  he  hid  his  face  from 
men. 

The  Boston  Chronicle  of  Nov.  20th,  1769,  says  "that  one 
Lindsay  stood  in  the  pillory  at  Worcester  one  hour,  after  which 
he  received  thirty  stripes  at  the  public  whipping  post,  and  was 
then  branded  on  the  hand  ;  his  crime  was  forgery."  It  appears 
that  it  was  the  custom,  as  punishment  for  that  crime,  to  brand 
the  letter  F.  on  the  palm  of  the  right  hand,  just  as  Hawthorne 
says  of  the  letter  M.  for  Murder. 

Just  here  let  me  call  attention  to  the  great  improvement  in  com- 
fort over  the  eighteenth  century,  especiall}'  for  the  laboring  class. 
Their  houses  were  mean,  their  food  course,  their  clothing  of  com- 
mon stuff  and  their  wages  not  half  the  present  scale,  with  even 
less  purchasing  power.  For  ordinary  unskilled  labor  the  wages 
were  two  shillings  a  day,  and  six  pence  more  when  laborers  were 
scarce.  Good  men  in  my  father's  first  parish  were  hired  for 
eighteen  pounds  a  year  or  four  dollars  a  month,  and  out  of  this 
furnished  their  clothes.  They  rarely  had  fresh  meat  because  too 
costly,  corn  was  three  shillings,  and  wheat  eight  and  six  a  bushel, 
an  assize  of  bread  four  pence,  a  pound  of  salt  pork  ten  pence. 
Fruits  were  regarded  as  luxuries  or  were  not  attainable.  The  fox 
grape  was  the  only  one  in  the  market  in  ray  father's  time,  and 
was  the  luxury  of  the  rich.  In  the  house  of  the  laborer  there  was 
little  comfort.  Sand  sprinkled  on  the  floor  did  duty  as  a  carpet. 
There  was  no  glass  on  his  table,  no  china  in  his  cupboard,  no 
prints  on  his  wall.  He  did  not  know  what  a  stove  was,  coal  he 
had  never  seen  and  of  matches  he  had  never  heard.  At  this  very 
time,  1793-1800,  hod-carriers  and  mortar  mixers,  diggers  and 
choppers,  who  labored  on  the  public  buildings  and  cut  the  streets 
and  avenues  of  Washington  City,  received  seventy  dollars  a  year. 
But  there  were  not  then  as  great  contrasts  of  wealth  and  poverty 
as  now,  and  the  gulf  between  the  laborer  and  the  rich  has  deep- 
ened and  widened. 


M 


CHAPTER  II. 

MY  FATHER. 

Y  FATHKR  wrote  down  some  recollections  of  his  early  life 
which  in  substance  were  published  after  his  death  in  1849. 
As  he  entered  the  Revolutionary  Army  when  very  young,  not 
being  fourteen,  I  have  thought  some  of  his  experiences  may  be 
of  interest  at  this  time  of  revived  historical  research.  I  quote  his 
opening  words  as  expressing  my  own  sentiments  : 

"Feeling  myself  infirm  and  under  the  increasing  weight  of 
years,  and  well  knowing  that  I  must  soon  go  the  way  of  all  the 
earth,  I  have  a  desire  to  prepare  some  written  testimonials  of 
divine  goodness  to  me  and  to  my  family,  hoping  they  will, be  of  some 
use  to  my  children  and  descendants.  And  now,  O  Father  of 
Mercies,  may  it  please  Thee  to  impart  to  me  Thine  assistance, 
guidance  and  blessing,  that  what  I  write  may  correspond  with  the 
record  kept  on  high." 

His  father  was  a  farmer  on  a  moderate  scale,  and  his  early  hab- 
its of  active  industry,  economy  and  self-reliance  favored  the 
development  of  strong  character  and  great  bodily  vigor  in  his 
sons.  He  often  spoke  with  aflfection  and  respect  of  his  parents 
and  of  their  influence.  They  were  noted  for  their  piety  and  indus- 
try, and  with  limited  advantages  for  improvement,  and  with  few 
books,  they  were  diligent  in  instructing  their  children,  and  set 
them  examples  of  pious  and  prayerful  lives. 

"  I  remember,"  says  my  father,  "  the  following  facts  :  We  lived 
two  miles  from  the  house  of  worship.  Our  large  family  all 
attended  worship  when  the  weather  allowed.  We  had  no  vehicle, 
and  there  were  only  two  chaises  in  the  parish  ;  so  my  father  and 
the  others  walked,  my  mother,  with  one  of  the  family,  rode  on 
side-saddle  and  pillion." 

"The  hearth-fire  was  frequently  raked  up  on  Sunday,  as 
at  night.  Nothing  was  done  on  the  Sabbath  except  what  was 
necessary,  and  it  was  a  day  of  rest  from  worldly  cares.  I  never 
saw  my  father  shave  himself  on  the  Lord's  Day.  The  supper, 
after  returning  from  church,  had  been  mostly  cooked  the  day 
before." 


10 


My  Father's  Home.  ii 

"The  practice  of  singing  kept  alive  the  attention  of  the  family 
and  rendered  the  Sabbath  more  welcome  and  interesting  than  any 
other  day.  The  family  being  singers,  a  hymn  was  sung  at  family 
worship  Saturday  evening,  Sabbath  morning  and  evening," 

"  The  modes  of  living,  dress  and  manners  of  the  people,  the 
state  of  society  and  of  religion,  and  the  duties  of  pastors  and 
churches  in  1770  were  far  different  from  now.  There  were  but  few 
wealthy  or  noted  people  in  our  region.  They  were  mostly  farmers 
and  mechanics,  whose  education  was  limited,  but  who  enjoyed  the 
necessaries  and  comforts  of  life.  The  most  conspicuous  traits  in 
the  community  were  i?ite^rity,  industry  and  economy. ' ' 

"  Food  was  more  simple  and  less  in  quantity,  yet  I  think  people 
were  better  satisfied  with  their  style  of  living  than  now.  There 
was  a  good  supply  of  pork  and  beef,  with  pies  and  puddings  on 
occasion.  One  wholesome  dish  was  thought  sufficient.  Few 
potatoes  were  used  for  family  use  and  none  for  cattle,  as  their  value 
was  little  known.  I  remember  well  that  six  bushels  were  thought 
sufficient  for  my  father's  family  of  eight  or  nine  persons.  There 
was  an  equal  supply  also  of  English  turnips,  beets  and  carrots.  I 
think  their  modes  of  living  secured  them  better  health  and  satis- 
faction with  their  lot,  and  their  simple  economy  was  healthful  to 
to  their  moral  and  religious  interests." 

"  I  recall  the  quiet  and  noiseless  state  of  the  church  and  parish 
in  Bridgewaterin  1770.  The  people  were  constant  at  worship,  and 
there  was  a  cordial  sympathy  and  co-operation  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church." 

"Very  little  attention  was  paid  to  schools.  I  attended  school 
for  a  few  weeks  in  the  summer  for  several  years  and  learned  the 
Assembly's  Catechism,  on  Saturdays  at  school  and  on  Sa  >baths 
at  home.  Dilworth's  Spelling  Book  and  the  Psalter  were  the 
school  books  used.  In  winter  there  was  a  school  for  older 
scholars  for  a  few  weeks  and  Arithmetic  to  the  Rule  of  Three 
and  some  other  branches  were  taught." 

"The  morals  of  the  people  were  correct  and  pure.  Profane  lan- 
guage was  very  rare  ;  so  was  fraud  and  deception  in  trade,  md  theft 
or  robbery.  There  were  few  amusements  in  those  days.  Playthings 
and  toys  for  children  were  simple  and  few.  Very  early  in  my 
life  I  got  a  fife,  to  my  great  delight,  and  soon  learned  several 
martial  airs.  The  tunes  played  and  sung  just  before  the  Revolu- 
tion were  exciting.  I  was  eager  to  attend  and  often  did  attend 
the  drill  and  enlistment  meetings." 


12  A  Young  Fifer. 

"The  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  excited  great  feeling.  On  that 
day  I  was  in  a  neighbor's  field  hoeing  corn  and  I  heard  the  roar- 
ing of  the  cannon.  I  was  then  thirteen  and  a  half  years  old,  but 
very  large  for  my  age.  The  captain  of  the  militia  lived  near  my 
father's  and  knowing  they  were  high  Whigs,  and  that  I  had  some 
skill  with  my  fife,  he  appointed  me  fifer  in  his  company.  Soon 
after  this  he  enlisted  and  begged  me  to  go  with  him  as  fifer, 
promising  that  he  would  treat  me  as  a  son,  and  he  faithfully  kept 
his  promise.  Though  young  and  fond  of  home,  I  had  no  hesita- 
tion in  enlisting,  nor  did  my  parents  discourage  it.  I  have  won- 
dered that  as  I  was  the  youngest,  my  mother  did  not  oppose  my 
going.  I  can  never  forget  when  I  left  home,  she  took  my  hand 
and  said  :  '  Hezekiah,  remember,  praying  will  make  thee  leave 
sinning,  and  sinning  will  make  thee  leave  praying.'  This  was  to 
me  as  a  guardian  angel,  being  full  of  meaning  and  of  practical 
truth." 

"  As  a  soldier  my  moral  habits  were  correct.  I  was  averse  to 
vices  in  the  army,  to  which  youth  are  exposed.  I  had  many 
interesting  experiences  during  the  campaigns,  in  which  I  served 
so  young." 

' '  The  regiment  to  which  I  belonged  was  ordered  to  Cambridge, 
and  dwelt  in  tents  near  Cambridge  Port,  in  an  orchard  where 
afterwards,  in  1832,  I  took  tea  with  my  friend  Rev.  Thomas  B. 
Gannett.  We  drew  provisions  from  the  College  Hall,  where 
beef,  pork,  &c. ,  were  kept  for  the  army." 

"  From  the  time  we  marched  into  Boston,  late  in  the  autumn, 
until  the  following  June,  Col.  Sargent's  regiment,  in  which  my 
name  was  enrolled,  occupied  several  stations.  We  were  ordered 
to  Bunker  Hill,  and  while  there  the  grave  of  Dr.  Warren  was  dis- 
covered and  the  body  disinterred.  I  saw  the  spot  where  that 
American  hero  slept.  We  were  ordered  to  New  York,  and  had  a 
pleasant  passage  from  New  London  to  New  York.  We  were 
stationed  near  Hurlgate,  six  miles  above  the  city,  and  the  enemy 
had  a  fort  opposite  ours  across  the  river,  about  a  mile  distant. 
The  enemy  had  much  greater  weight  of  metal,  both  in  cannon  and 
in  mortars." 

"A  soldier,  soon  after  the  balls  and  bombs  began  to  fly  into 
our  camp,  walking  proudly  upon  the  parapet,  boastfully  pro- 
claimed that  the  ball  was  not  yet  made  that  was  to  kill  him.  Not 
many  minutes  after  this  a  ball  came  and  almost  cut  him  asunder, 
thus  warning  others  not  to  expose  life  needlessly,  lest  they  also 


A  Revolutionary  Soldier.  13 

should  die  'as  the  fool  dieth.'  The  cannonading  continued  for 
several  weeks,  killing  and  wounding  some.  An  old  man  belong- 
ing to  our  camp  saw  a  bomb  fall  and  bury  itself  in  the  ground  a 
few  rods  from  him,  and  started  hastily  towards  the  spot,  hoping 
to  save  the  powder,  which,  would  bring  him  a  dollar.  Just  before 
he  reached  the  place  there  was  a  tremendous  explosion,  and  he 
was  covered  with  dirt  and  nearly  suffocated,  but  received  no  seri- 
ous injury.  About  the  same  time  two  young  men,  belonging  to 
the  same  company,  and,  I  believe,  to  the  same  mess,  found  a 
bomb,  the  fuse  of  which  had  been  somehow  extinguished,  and 
thoughtlessly  tried  to  open  the  vent  with  a  pickaxe.  This  rash 
attempt  was  fatal  to  both,  as  a  spark  from  the  pickaxe  reached 
the  powder,  and  they  were  awfully  mangled  by  the  explosion." 

"Soon  after  this  our  troops  left  lyong  Island,  and  we  were 
ordered  to  evacuate  New  York.  It  was  a  Sabbath  in  the  last  o^ 
August  or  first  of  September.  The  heat  was  extreme,  the  roads 
were  crowded  with  troops,  with  men,  women  and  children,  cattle, 
goods  and  chattels,  all  overspread  with  thick  clouds  of  dust.  The 
retreat  was  precipitate  and  confused.  Many  were  injured  by 
drinking  cold  water.  One  died  near  the  well  where  he  drank.  It 
was  a  day  of  alarm  and  confusion,  perplexity  and  fatigue,  more 
noticeable  as  it  was  the  Sabbath.  The  night  following  was  dark 
and  rainy.  I  slept  on  the  ground  under  a  blanket,  with  my  cap- 
tain, who  always  treated  me  as  a  son." 

"The  next  morning,  while  breakfast  was  preparing  and  ihe 
soldiers  were  adjusting  their  packs,  cleaning  their  guns,  etc.,  after 
the  rain,  guns  were  heard,  and  the  enemy  was  at  hand.  A  com- 
pany of  volunteers  were  called  out  to  give  the  enemy  a  check,  and 
of  this  number  (136)  my  brother  was  one,  but  a  few  hours  after 
was  wounded  and  on  his  way  to  the  hospital.  On  this  day  was 
the  battle  of  Harlem  Heights.  Our  regiment  was  near  the  center 
of  the  line  of  battle,  extending  from  North  or  Hudson  to  East 
river,  not  far  from  King's  Bridge.  The  right  wing  (towards  North 
River)  was  first  engaged,  and  before  the  centre  was  brought  into 
action  the  enemy  gave  way  and  retreated.  Our  troops  then 
returned  to  their  stations  and  took  refreshment.  I  think  the 
number  killed  and  wounded  was  great.  I  visited  my  brother 
several  times.  His  wound  became  alarming  and  the  surgeons 
nearly  despaired  of  him.  Afterwards  he  was  somewhat  relieved, 
and  we  did  not  meet  again  till  we  met  in  our  father's  house.     In 


14  A  Campaign  Ended. 

the  autumn  I  fell  sick,  and  the  hospital  being  very  filthy,  I  became 
worse,  and  thought  I  should  not  live." 

"At  the  end  of  the  year  my  term  of  service  ended.  Being 
somewhat  better,  though  still  very  weak,  I  set  my  face  and  tot- 
tering steps  towards  home.  The  first  day  with  great  exertion 
I  travelled  three  or  four  miles.  About  the  third  day  I  reached 
the  great  road  from  White  Plains  to  my  native  region,  and  was 
providentially  overtaken  by  my  captain's  elder  brother,  who  had 
ever  been  my  friend  in  camp.  He  had  bought  a  cheap  horse,  and 
finding  me  solitary  and  feeble,  he  readily  dismounted  and  let  me 
ride.  The  relief  and  favor  were  greater  than  I  can  express.  I 
rode  nearly  the  whole  distance  of  two  hundred  miles  ;  nor  do  I 
think  my  generous  friend  rode  even  five  miles,  till  we  reached 
Easton,  Mass.,  his  native  town,  where  my  eldest  brother  lived. 
My  youth  and  a  fifer's  uniform  were  of  use  to  us  both  on  our 
journey.  We  received  many  a  good  bit  on  our  way  in  consequence 
of  the  pitiful  story  my  friend  told  of  the  suffering  fifer  upon  the 
horse." 

"  My  parents  had  heard  nothing  from  me  after  the  battle  of 
Harlem  Heights,  save  that  I  was  there,  nor  did  they  know  aught 
of  my  brother.  I  cannot  express  the  strong,  joyous  emotions  in 
my  breast  nor  the  pious  joy  which  my  parents  manifested  on  my 
return.  I  was  so  reduced  in  health  that  for  a  long  time  I  was 
unfit  for  business  and  suffered  much.  I  was  induced,  however, 
to  enlist  again  for  six  months.  That  I  should  do  so  has  always 
been  a  mystery  to  me.  I  was  ordered  to  Rhode  Island  and  sta- 
tioned at  Providence,  and  thence  marched  to  Newport.  General 
Sullivan,  who  had  the  command,  intended  to  gain  possession  of 
Newport,  then  in  the  hands  of  the  British.  We  passed  in  flat- 
bottomed  boats  to  the  Island  in  the  night  by  the  light  of  the  moon, 
but  owing  to  adverse  circumstances  the  enterprise  was  given  up 
and  the  campaign  was  soon  closed." 

"  I  saw  General  Washington  take  command  of  the  arm)''  under 
the  elm  tree  in  Cambridge.  I  saw  him  again  but  was  so  excited 
I  forgot  to  take  off  my  hat,  and  at  the  thought  was  ashamed." 

"My  father  died  February  2,  1777,  after  a  short  and  severe 
illness,  of  a  typhus  fever.  He  was  most  strict  and  conscien- 
tious in  his  manner  of  life,  a  man  of  prayer  and  practical 
piety.  One  of  the  last  sentences  he  uttered  was  :  '  If  any  man 
sin,  we  have  an  Advocate  with  the  Father.'  Religious  impress- 
ions were  early  made  on  my  mind,  and  I  have  a  distinct  and 


Harvard  College.  15 

vivid  recollection  of  being  in  doubt  as  to  the  proper  subjects  of 
prayer,  to  which  I  was  then  no  stranger.  Walking  home  with 
my  father  from  the  iSeld,  I  asked  him  what  I  ought  to  pray  for. 
He  was  ready  to  answer  me  and  encourage  me  in  that  duty.  I 
was  then  probably  eight  or  nine  years  old.  The  instructions, 
examples  and  prayers  of  my  parents  were  blessed  in  my  conver- 
sion about  1780." 

"  In  1782,  having  hurt  my  arm,  I  decided  to  prepare  for  college, 
and  went  to  study  under  Rev.  Dr.  John  Reed.  I  was  very  dili- 
gent and  in  one  year  was  ready  to  enter  Harvard  College,  July, 
1783.  I  had  to  make  my  way  through  many  difficulties,  with  no 
patron  or  helper.  I  spent  my  vacations  mostly  at  college,  where 
I  had  a  good  chance  to  study,  and  made  my  board  by  keeping  a 
morning  school  for  misses.  I  kept  school  nine  or  ten  weeks  every 
winter,  did  anything  I  could  do,  and  practiced  rigid  economy.  In 
my  Junior  year  I  was  monitor.  When  I  took  my  first  degree  I 
owed  about  one  hundred  and  tweutj^-five  dollars.  I  passed 
through  college  without  fine  or  censure  and  with  a  respectable 
literary  character.  John  Quincy  Adams  was  my  classmate,  and 
at  a  college  re-union  many  years  afterwards,  I  walked  arm  in  arm 
with  him  in  the  procession.  I  was  Mathematical  Tutor  at 
Harvard  four  years,  succeeding  President  Webber,  and  Assistant 
lyibrarian,  and  was  one  of  those  who  in  1788  prepared  the  first 
printed  catalogue  of  the  library.  While  Tutor,  Judge  Joseph 
Story  was  a  pupil." 

Dr.  Tyng  gave  me  my  father's  part  in  the  Harvard  Commence- 
ment of  1787,  but  it  was  lost  when  many  of  my  valuable  papers 
and  books  were  taken  in  1861. 

In  October  1793,  my  father  received  ordination  over  the  church 
and  people  of  Chelmsford,  Mass.,  where  he  labored  eight  years 
very  successfully.  In  1884  I  received  a  paper  from  there  contain- 
ing a  notice  of  a  reunion  of  churches  ;  where,  at  one  service,  a 
Thanksgiving  sermon  preached  by  my  father  in  1795  was  read,  as 
was  stated,  to  the  decided  gratification  of  the  assembly. 

In  July,  1802,  he  removed  to  Wiscasset,  Maine,  where  he  suc- 
ceeded Rev.  Alden  Bradford,  a  direct  descendant  of  John  Alden. 
He  had  a  unanimous  call  at  a  salary  of  $700  a  year.  At  that  time 
and  for  many  years  after,  Wiscasset  was  a  place  of  great  commercial 
enterprise  and  large  trade  with  the  West  Indies,  with  about  2,000 
inhabitants. 


i6  Minister  and  Teacher. 

But  the  schools,  the  morals  and  the  institutions  of  religion  had 
been  much  neglected.  Intemperance  and  other  vices  prevailed. 
He  was  induced  to  teach  a  private  school,  besides  preaching,  and 
it  succeeded  so  well  that  a  brick  academy  was  at  once  built,  and 
he  was  put  at  its  head  in  1808.  This  made  his  duties  very  ardu- 
ous, but  he  thus  exerted  a  greater  moral  influence  and  so  was 
much  more  useful  than  in  the  ministry  alone.  The  Academy,  of 
which  he  was  head,  made  an  era  in  the  history  of  Wiscasset.  Its 
teaching  was  excellent  for  that  day,  while  its  strong  yet  kindly 
discipline,  and  the  high  moral  influence  which  it  exerted  on  that 
generation,  worked  powerfully  for  good.  The  Monday-morning 
lessons  from  the  Scriptures,  ' '  the  fire  and  hammer  of  God's  word, ' ' 
with  the  record  taken  of  verses  recited  and  of  the  number  of  chap- 
ters read  in  the  Bible  during  the  week  credited  on  the  student's 
mark,  the  devices  for  imparting  fundamental  maxims  of  life  by 
question  and  answer  of  the  school  in  concert,  were  in  design  most 
excellent,  and  their  influence  was  to  make  lasting  impressions  of 
what  Daniel  Webster  says  is  the  profoundest  truth  of  life — our 
responsibility  to  God. 

My  father  gave  up  the  Academy,  but  always  had  six  boys 
boarding  with  and  being  taught  by  him.  He  was  noted  for  his 
influence  and  control  over  boj'S,  and  many  men  of  prominence 
expressed  their  obligation  to  him  for  his  training  of  them.  Many 
wild  and  wayward  boys  were  sent  to  him  from  Boston  and  other 
places.  His  discipline  was  strong  and  firm,  and  he  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  imparting  knowledge. 

Some  of  his  pupils,  like  Rev.  John  A.  Vaughan  and  William 
Vaughan,  Chandler  Robbins  of  Boston,  and  Joseph  Williams,  a 
Governor  of  Maine,  were  very  prominent.  Rev.  John  A. 
Vaughan,  D.  D.,  was  in  Philadelphia  many  years  and  was  Bishop 
Alouzo  Potter's  right-hand  man,  and  on  the  Standing  Committee. 

Frederick  A.  Packard,  of  Philadelphia,  a  nephew  and  pupil, 
was  off"ered  the  Presidency  of  Girard  College,  and  was  foremost 
in  religious  and  charitable  work. 

In  the  summer  he  used  to  take  his  chaise  and  visit  his  friends, 
Dr.  Abiel  Holmes,  the  father  of  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Dr. 
Pierce  and  Robert  lyowell,  whose  sons  as  president  and  poet  are  so 
well  known,  and  they  returned  his  visits.  He  was  associated 
with  the  father  of  George  Bancroft,  the  historian,  and  other 
Unitarians  in  Cambridge,  and  while  not  a  Unitarian  himself  he 
was  somewhat  influenced  by  their  views  and  did  not  use  the  terms 


My  Father's  Influence.  17 

co-equal    and    co-eternal  of  Christ.     Priestley's   Corruptions   of 
Christianity,  which  was  much  circulated  then,  did  great  harm. 

He  was  regarded  as  the  minister  of  the  town,  and  had  great 
influence  in  every  direction,  and  on  all  public  occasions  he 
officiated.  The  Supreme  Court  sometimes  met  in  Wiscasset,  and 
he  always  opened  it  with  prayer,  and  at  the  military  musters, 
once  a  year,  he  rode  on  horseback  with  the  officers  and  made  a 
prayer. 

As  Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Hilton,  of  Wiscasset,  wrote  me  six  years  ago, 
"  Your  father  was  the  central  figure  in  the  religious  and  social 
life  of  Wiscasset  and  vicinity.  Indeed  '  Dr.  Packard '  was  a 
household  name  in  all  the  families  of  my  acquaintance."  My 
father  left  Wiscasset  in  1830,  and  took  charge  of  the  Church  in 
Middlesex,  for  six  years.  This  was  a  part  of  his  old  parish  of 
Chelmsford,  where  he  had  founded  in  January,  1794,  a  library 
which  continued  to  live  and  grow  and,  in  1894,  celebrated  its 
centennial.  Judge  Hadley  made  an  elaborate  address  upon  my 
father' s  life  and  work  of  which  I  give  two  sentences.  ' '  This  library 
was  not  founded  by  an  Astor,  a  Lenox,  a  Carnegie,  or  a  Rocke- 
feller, but  by  a  typical  New  England  clergyman  of  the  best 
Massachusetts  stock,  who  loved  good  books  and  delighted  in  their 
refining  and  improving  companionship,  and  who  was  himself  the 
embodiment  of  the  grace  culture  and  refinement  which  good  and 
pure  literature  always  creates  and  fosters.  Among  the  boys  of 
this  town  who  early  devoured  its  volumes  was  Josiah  Gardner 
Abbott,  one  of  the  most  active  founders  of  the  City  library  in 
Lowell,  so  that  Lowell  not  only  owes  her  territory,  but  in  some 
degree  her  present  50,000  volume  library,  to  her  mother  Chelms- 
ford." 

"  Books  are  men  of  higher  stature. 

And  the  only  men  that  speak  aloud  for  future  times  to  hear." 

My  father  labored  most  diligently  in  these  various  fields,  but 
ever  with  one  purpose — to  serve  the  cause  of  God  and  man,  and 
though  I  shall  often  refer  to  him  and  his  untiring  efforts  for  our 
good,  I  must  here  pay  him  the  tribute  of  filial  respect  and  love 
and  acknowledge  that  I  owe  to  him  whatever  I  learned  of  industry, 
honesty,  and  love  of  knowledge  ;  and  I  can  truly  say  of  him  that 
he  served  his  day  and  generation  according  to  the  will  of  God. 


CHAPTER  III. 
BOYHOOD  AND  SCHOOL  LIFE. 

So  great  have  been  the  social  changes  in  this  country  that  life 
in  the  beginning  of  the  past  century  was  very  different  from 
the  life  at  its  close.  It  has  been  a  century  remarkable  for  its 
inventions  and  discoveries.  I  have  seen  the  first  railroad — the 
Boston  and  lyowell — running  a  short  distance,  in  1830  or  1831 
when  a  great  multitude  was  assembled.  I  was  present  with  my 
father-in-law,  General  Walter  Jones,  when  Mr.  Morse  was  per- 
forming his  experiments  with  the  telegraph  in  the  open  air  in 
front  of  the  Capitol  in  1843,  and  the  message  was  sent,  "What 
hath  God  wrought  ?  " 

It  would  be  difficult  to  represent  the  simplicity  of  my  early  life, 
passed  as  it  was  in  the  retirement  of  a  country  minister's  parish. 
Edward  Everett  Hale  has  given  an  account  of  his  boyhood  in  the 
city  of  Boston  ;  mine  was  spent  in  a  secluded  seaport  town  in  the 
State  of  Maine.     Wiscasset  was  one  of  the  principal  seaports,  sit- 
uated on  an  inlet,  the  Sheepscot  River,  about  twelve  miles  from 
the  ocean,  with  a  splendid  harbor  and  ships  coming  from  every 
port.     Merchants  owned  vessels  to  a  large  amount,  and  ships, 
brigs,  and  other  vessels  were  in  constant  and  profitable  employ- 
ment.    Masts,  logs  and  lumber  of  various  kinds  were  floated  in 
large  rafts  from  the  Kennebec.     Mast-ships  from  I,iverpool  and 
other   British  ports  came  yearly  for  masts  and    were  supplied. 
Some  of  its  merchants  had  fine  houses,  and  it  was  a  town  of  con- 
siderable culture  and  refinement.     My  father  had  bought  a  place  on 
a  hill,  sloping  gently  down  to  the  bay,  about  half  a  mile  from  the 
town,  and  had  built  a  comfortable  dwelling-house  below  the  crest 
of  the  hill,  under  a  sheltering  rock.     The  site  commanded  a  view 
of  the  town  and  of  the  bay,  which  is  about  a  mile  wide,  with  bold 
and  rocky  headlands.     The  most  familiar  sight  to  me  in  early 
life  was  the  tide  coming  in  twice  a  day  twelve  feet  and  covering 
the  flats  which  bounded  my  father's  land.     An  Englishman,  once 
visiting  the  place,  said  that  it  was  equal  to  any  view  he  had  ever 
seen,  and  few  places  had  such  an  outlook.     The  father  of  Francis 
Parkman,  the  historian,  used  to  visit  at  my  father's  and  I  remem- 

18 


WiSCASSET.  ig 

ber  his  admiring  the  prospect  and  saying  how  much  a  nobleman 
in  England  would  give  to  have  such  a  view  from  his  house. 

To  quote  from  Dr.  Smyth,  "  on  the  east  was  the  beautiful  har- 
bor, and  the  graceful  lines  of  Birch   point,  fringed  with  forest 
trees.     Beyond  over  the  waters  and  the  bold  headlands  were  the 
stately  hills  of  Edgecomb,  and  south  and  west  and  north,  farm 
lands,  and  forests,  and  ranges  of  upland  and  the  cheerful  village 
with  church,  court-house  and  academy,  with  pleasant  homes,  and 
the   broad   street   running  down  to  the  busy  wharves.     It  was 
the  most  important  town  east  of  Portland,  the  shire  town,  where 
Daniel  Webster  and  Jeremiah  Mason  argued  great  cases.     The 
village  bell  rang  out  on  the  national  holidays,  and  the  guns  of 
the  old  blockhouse  made  fitting  reply.    That  old  Lincoln  County 
was  like  the  marches  of  England  and  Scotland,  for  it  was  long  in 
dispute  between  England  and  France,  and  no  other  region  appeals 
more  powerfully  to  the  historic  imagination.     It  has  been  the 
scene  of  the  wars  of  races,  of  thrilling  personal  adventures,  of 
fierce  collisions  and  battles.     What  tales  of  courage  and  heroism, 
of  midnight  surprise  and  boldest  adventure  hang  over  its  hills 
and  promontories  and  are  connected  with  the  innumerable  passes 
and  channels  from  Merry-meeting  bay  to  the  waters  of  the  Sheeps- 
cot  and  the  Damariscotta  !     The  imagination  is  haunted  by  the 
suggestions  of  a  remote  antiquity  and  the  successions  of  dusky 
tribes.     Here  Frenchmen  and  Englishmen  join  in  mortal  conflict, 
now  pirates    free  as  the  winds    that   fill    their  sails   coast   the 
shores  and  swoop  down  upon  their  prey,  now  adventurers  eager 
for  discovery  and  gain  come  with  barque  and  pinnace." 

I  thus  imbibed  early  in  life  a  love  for  the  beauties  of  nature, 
which  has  ever  been  a  source  of  true  pleasure,  and  I  have  always 
been  thankful  I  was  born  in  this  country.  One  looks  back  to  his 
earliest  memories  in  wonder,  so  much  has  come  between  the  first 
and  latest.  I  have  often  felt,  as  my  father  did,  that  I  had  lived 
three  lives,  and  that  it  did  not  seem  possible  that  it  was  in  this 
body  that  I  did  thus  and  so. 

There  is  a  Frenchman  who  says  that  he  recollects  the  relief  pro- 
duced on  his  eyes  when  he  was  a  baby  thirty-six  hours  old,  and  a 
nurse  lowered  a  curtain  to  screen  him  from  the  light.  I  cannot 
believe  this,  much  less  equal  it,  but  I  think  that  from  three  years 
on  our  memories  retain  distinct  images.  Goethe  says  he  can 
remember  his  thoughts  and  feelings  when  two  or  three  years  old. 
I  can  faintly  remember  the  burial  of  my  grandmother,  Mrs.  Spring^ 


20  Early  Memories. 

in  September,  1815,  when  nearly  three,  and  also  a  fire  at  a  neighbor- 
ing house.  It  was  a  very  cold  summer  with  frost  every  month, 
and  the  crops  did  not  ripen.  A  little  later  most  distinct  impres. 
sions  were  made.  One  of  the  earliest  is  sitting  in  my  father's 
study  when  he  was  writing  his  sermon,  and  looking  out  on  the 
bay  below  the  house  and  reading  Belknap's  History  of  New 
Hampshire,  with  its  stories  of  bears  killing  children  when  they 
went  after  cows.  I  was  three  years  old  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo 
and  nine  years  old  when  Napoleon  died,  but  I  do  not  remember 
hearing  of  his  death. 

Another  of  my  earliest  memories  is  going  to  church  and  hear- 
ing my  father  give  out  the  hymn,  "  Behold  the  morning  sun." 
My  church-going  was  a  prominent  part  of  my  early  life,  and  I 
will  give  some  recollections  of  that,  aided  by  my  brother's  record 
of  the  same. 

The  meeting-house  of  Wiscasset  was  built  in  1771,  and  was  a 
barn-like  structure,  unpainted  and  unplastered,  with  the  beams 
jutting  out  in  the  corners,  and  three  galleries.  One  of  the  galler- 
ies was  appropriated  to  strangers,  seamen  from  the  harbor,  and 
sometimes  was  used  by  unruly  boys.  The  front  of  the  eastern 
side,  opposite  the  pulpit,  was  occupied  by  the  singing  gallery. 
What  seemed  peculiar  was  that  the  singers  on  the  front  row  of  the 
gallery,  as  they  rose  to  sing,iturned  their  back  to  the  pulpit  and 
faced  those  on  the  back  seat,  the  leader  beating  time,  and  tuning- 
fork,  bass-viol  and  bassoon  being  used.  The  church-music  of 
those  days  was  far  different  from  now.  Fugue  tunes  were  very 
popular,  in  which  the  different  parts  of  the  scale  seemed  pursuing 
each  other  as  in  a  race.  The  bell  cast  by  Paul  Revere  was  hung 
in  1800,  and  a  centennial  celebration  of  it  was  lately  held  in  1900, 
in  my  father's  church. 

In  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  gallery  were  open  seats  appro- 
priated to  the  few  colored  members  of  the  congregation.  The 
deacons  sat  on  the  main  floor  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  while  the  old 
men  had  a  spacious  square  pew,  raised  above,  immediately  under 
the  pulpit,  on  account  of  their  deafness,  and  entered  from  the 
pulpit  stairway.  The  ornaments  were  severely  simple,  little 
round  knobs  standing  up  on  the  back  edge  of  the  bench.  We 
cannot  forget  those  bitter  winter  Sabbaths  in  the  old  structure,  its 
front  door,  without  shelter,  opening  into  the  east  wind  and  snow, 
its  floor  a  stranger,  from  first  to  last,  to  the  comfort  of  carpet,  and 
the  fierce  rattling  of  windows  when  winds  were  high,  sometimes 


Church  Reminiscences.  21 

almost  overpowering  an  ordinary  voice  of  the  preacher,  and  the 
preacher  himself  clothed  in  surtout,  cloak  and  black  silk  gloves. 
My  father  was  once  oflFered  by  a  generous  parishioner  a  foot-stove 
for  the  pulpit,  but  declined  a  comfort  which  his  hearers  could  not 
share.  Small  tin  foot-stoves  in  a  wooden  frame  were  common, 
which  just  before  the  public  service  were  supplied  with  glowing 
coals  from  neighboring  kitchen  fires,  and  placed  in  the  pews  for 
the  women  and  children.  There  was  no  other  way  of  heating. 
The  first  stove  heard  of  in  Massachusetts  for  a  meeting-house  was 
put  up  by  the  First  Congregation  of  Boston  in  1773. 

In  January,  1822,  when  I  was  ten  years  old,  the  ladies  of  the 
parish  procured  the  first  stove,  and  in  gratitude  their  names  were 
entered  on  the  parish  records.  Hawthorne  speaks  of  the  old 
wooden  meeting-house  in  Salem,  which  used  to  be  on  winter 
Sabbaths  "  the  frozen  purgatory  of  my  childhood." 

All  stood  in  public  prayer,  unless  prevented  by  age  or  infirmity, 
and  in  the  square  pews  the  seats,  for  the  convenience  of  those  who 
stood,  moved  on  hinges  and  were  raised  like  the  lid  of  a  box. 
When  the  amen  was  said,  some  of  the  less  careful  let  the  seat  fall, 
causing  a  clatter  over  the  house  like  a  running  fusilade  of  mus- 
ketry. It  was  almost  a  disgrace  not  to  go  to  church — dangerous 
to  the  character.  Nearly  everyone  went,  and  if  the  vigilant  pas- 
tor's eye  detected  empty  seats,  he  presumed  the  absentee  was  sick 
or  disabled,  and  would  call  on  Monday  to  comfort  him.  People 
were  obliged  by  law  in  the  17th  century  to  attend  church,  unless 
they  were  sick.  "  In  1643,  Roger  Scott  for  repeated  sleeping  in 
meeting  on  the  Sabbath  and  for  striking  the  person  who  waked 
him,  was  at  Salem  sentenced  to  be  severely  whipped."  Hawthorne 
says,  "  A  Puritan  had  his  pleasures.  He  was  jolly  at  funerals  and 
ordinations,  when  New  England  rum  flowed  like  water."  No 
Jersey  wagons  or  buggies  were  known,  few  chaises  were  used,  but 
horses  with  saddle  and  pillion  were  common,  and  a  walk  of  two  to 
four  miles  was  no  hindrance  to  church  attendance,  and  the  house 
was  often  left  with  dog  and  cat  only  to  keep  the  premises.  Old 
women  used  to  walk  a  long  distance  to  church  and  would  dine  at 
my  father's  on  the  way  home. 

The  older  I  grow,  the  more  thankful  I  am  that  I  was  taught  to 
keep  the  Sabbath  holy,  to  attend  church  and  to  live  in  reference 
to  another  world.  Many  Christian  parents  now  think  that  it  is 
too  much  to  expect  children  to  go  to  church,  or  to  give  up  their 
playthings  on  that  day. 


22  My  First  School. 

The  clergy  then  used  to  appear  in  gown  and  bands,  at  least  in 
summer  months,  and  the  reverent  bearing  of  the  congregation  was 
universal  and  a  lesson  for  their  descendants.  The  clergy  had 
somewhat  in  their  costume  which  distinguished  them  as  a  class, 
and  a  grave  yet  courteous  demeanor  and  a  consciousness  of  the 
dignity  and  sacredness  of  their  calling,  the  absence  of  which  was 
deemed  an  offence. 

The  late  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy  says  that  at  the  Old  South 
Church,  Andover,  the  people  were  all  in  their  places  when  the 
pastor  entered,  and  they  rose  and  stood  until  his  family  were 
seated  and  he  in  the  pulpit,  and  at  the  close  of  the  service  all 
stood  until  he  and  his  family  had  left  the  church.  Such  rever- 
ence for  the  house  of  God  and  for  the  sacred  office  was  most  bene- 
ficial. As  the  minister  went  up  the  aisle  he  bowed  to  the  people 
from  side  to  side.  The  Congregational  ministers  were  often 
called  "  father  "  and  "  parson." 

My  father  did  not  believe  in  children  being  taught  to  read  at 
too  early  an  age.  I  went  to  a  dame's  school  of  boys  and  girls, 
taught  by  a  Miss  Quimby,  when  I  was  six  years  old,  to  learn  my 
letters.  My  most  vivid  remembrance  of  that  time  is  of  a  mis- 
chievous boy  putting  a  bumble  bee  down  my  back  and  the  con- 
sternation excited  thereby  in  the  school,  and  my  own  distress. 

I  began  my  Greek  and  Latin  very  early  with  my  father,  and  he 
taught  me  thoroughly.  He  paid  great  attention  to  reading  and 
declamation.  I  can  remember  distinctly,  perhaps  eighty  years 
ago,  John  S.  C.  Abbott,  author  of  the  Life  of  Napoleon  Buona- 
parte, then  a  pupil,  declaiming  in  a  dramatic  way  some  lines  from 
Parnell's  Hermit: 

"  Horror  of  horrors  !    What  !  his  only  sou  ! 

How  looked  our  hermit  when  the  deed  was  done  ?  " 

Near  the  close  of  my  twelfth  year  I  was  sent  off  to  Phillips 
Academy,  Andover,  the  most  famous  school  in  New  England. 
This  was  a  great  event  in  my  life  and  opened  a  new  world  to  me, 
and  I  was  much  improved  by  my  single  year  there.  I  was,  how- 
ever, so  homesick  at  first  that  I  thought  of  running  away.  I 
remember  my  dear  mother  made  a  pudding  for  me  the  last  day  at 
home,  and  how  the  ginger  bread  tasted  when  I  was  a  boy.  I  went 
to  Andover  with  Mark  Newman,  who  was  going  there  to  see  his 
father,  with  whom  I  was  to  board.  We  went  in  a  two-wheeled 
chaise,  and  were  three  days  making  the  journey  of  one  hundred 


Phillips  Academy,  Andover.  23 

miles.  The  school  had  three  teachers,  and  perhaps  one  hundred 
boys.  Among  my  school-mates  were  Horatio  B.  Hackett  and 
Ray  Palmer,  the  sweet  hymn- writer,  whose  desk  was  just  behind 
mine  in  school,  but  he  was  not  in  my  class.  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes  was  there  the  year  before  I  entered.  Ray  Palmer  was  a 
real  poet,  and  the  author  of  our  favorite  hymn,  "  My  faith  looks 
up  to  Thee, ' '  and  Hackett  was  a  distinguished  scholar.  Rev.  John 
Adams,  father  of  Rev.  William  Adams,  D.  D.,  President  of  Union 
Seminary,  New  York,  was  the  Principal. 

Mr.  Adams  in  his  discipline  was  the  American  Busby,  and 
belonged  to  the  old  dispensation.  He  believed  with  Solomon 
(Prov.  xxiii.,  14),  "  Thou  shalt  beat  him  with  the  rod  and  shalt 
deliver  his  soul  from  hell. ' '  When  Dr.  Busby  was  showing  Charles 
II  over  his  school,  he  kept  his  hat  on,  saying  in  apology  that  it 
would  never  do  for  the  boys  to  think  that  there  was  anyone  in  the 
world  greater  than  he  was.  So  with  Dr.  Adams.  I  have  never 
witnessed  the  execution  of  a  criminal,  but  I  should  not  be  more 
affected  by  it  now  than  I  was  then  by  his  flogging  boys  who  had 
been  guilty  of  some  misdemeanor.  This  was  customary  then  in 
all  schools.  We  were  obliged  at  the  Academy  to  declaim  pieces 
at  regular  intervals.  I  had  in  my  class  two  boys  from  South 
Carolina,  Edmund  and  Albert  Smith.  I  can  now  recall  how 
Edmund  stood  with  hand  outstretched,  a  natural  orator,  and 
declaimed  an  extract  from  Pope's  translation  of  the  Odyssey, 
where  Ulysses  sails  between  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  with  the  loss 
of  some  of  his  men,  and  how  it  was  made  real  to  us  by  his  man- 
ner. He  afterwards  became  distinguished  in  his  native  State. 
This  large  family  of  Smiths  afterwards  had  their  name  changed 
to  Rhett,  an  honored  name  in  the  South.  They  were  the  uncles 
of  Miss  Mary  Rhett,  the  charming  matron  of  the  Seminary  for 
many  years. 

My  teacher  in  Latin  and  Greek  was  Jonathan  Clements,  an 

uncle  by  marriage  of  Phillips  Brooks.     I  can  never  forget  him 

for  he  was  a  most  excellent  teacher,  and  first  opened  my  eyes  to 

the  beauties  of  some  scenes  and  passages  in  Homer,  especially  the 

final  parting  of  Hector  and  Andromache,  which  John  Keble  has 

thus  versified  so  well  : 

"  Father  to  me  thou  art  and  mother  dear, 
And  brother,  too,  kind  husband  of  my  heart." 

I  have  an  affectionate  remembrance  of  him  and  of  his  pleasant 
smile  and  genial  manners. 


24  A  Boy  Teacher. 

In  my  d6but  in  declamation,  I  made  in  my  agitation  two  bows, 
and  John  Adams  held  me  up  to  the  ridicule  of  the  whole  school. 

Deacon  Newman's  family,  with  whom  I  boarded,  was  a  lovely 
one,  and  I  was  treated  like  a  son  by  them.  The  Newmans  were 
related  to  the  Phillips  family,  and  their  house  was  the  only  one 
where  I  saw  pictured  tiles  in  the  fire-place. 

I  went  on  Sundays  to  the  Old  South  church,  where  Justin 
Edwards  preached,  and  when  twelve  years  old  I  took  notes  of  his 
sermons,  which  I  preserved  for  many  years.  He  left  upon  me  an 
impression  of  sternness  and  austerity,  which  was  not  uncommon 
among  the  ministers  of  that  day.  They  used  to  preach  then  on 
the  ruin  of  man  and  his  punishment  more  than  now. 

I  stayed  at  home  the  next  year  and  taught  in  my  father's 
school  when  fourteen  years  old.  The  boys  were  older  than 
myself,  but  I  was  well  up  in  Latin  and  Greek.  Some  were  very 
bad  and  profane,  and  I  have  wondered  that  my  father  took  them 
at  a  risk  to  his  own  children.  Perhaps  he  thought  we  must  be 
thrown  with  such,  and  it  was  best  to  meet  them  where  better 
influences  might  counteract  the  evil.  He  charged  three  dollars  a 
week  for  board  and  tuition,  and  it  was  thought  a  high  price  at 
that  time.  By  this  means  he  was  enabled  to  live  more  comfort- 
ably, and  to  send  all  six  sons  to  college,  being  surpassed  in  this 
by  Dr.  Lord,  President  of  Dartmouth  College,  who  sent  eight 
sons  to  college. 

Domestic  service  was  not  then  looked  down  upon  as  it  is  now, 
and  servants  were  treated  as  members  of  the  family  in  many  ways. 

At  Deacon  Newman's  the  only  servant  was  Miss  ,  sister  of  a 

somewhat  distinguished  man,  the  biographer  of  Payson,  and  she 
married  a  farmer  afterwards.  Our  servant  was  a  lifelong  devoted 
helper  and  friend,  and  in  her  last  sickness  was  tenderly  nursed  by 
my  sister. 

As  to  the  amusements  of  my  boyhood,  they  were  few  and  sim- 
ple. My  eldest  brother  wrote  on  one  occasion  that  he  had  only 
half  an  hour  during  the  day  for  play.  Life  was  regarded  as  real 
and  earnest  and  children  were  less  indulged  than  they  are  now, 
and  life  was  to  them  more  sombre. 

In  summer  we  bathed  in  the  bay  when  the  tide  was  high  ;  the 
game  of  ball  was  played,  but  not  reduced  to  such  a  system  as  it 
now  is,  and  foot  ball  was  not  practised.  There  was,  too,  the 
shooting  of  wild  pigeons,  which  were  very  abundant  in  their  sea- 
son.    I  did  not  own  a  gun,  which  was  costly,  and  few  boys  owned 


A  Boy's  Amusements.  25 

them.  I  could  always  borrow  one  from  the  old  soldiers,  Queen 
Anne  guns,  they  were  called.  I  recall  those  crisp  cold  days  of 
winter,  that  were  so  exhilarating.  I  have  often  waked  up  with  my 
breath  frozen  on  the  quilt  ;  but  although  the  cold  was  so  severe, 
we  became  used  to  it  and  did  not  suffer.  The  snow  came  early 
and  stayed  till  late  in  March,  and  was  often  five  feet  deep,  conceal- 
ing fences  and  stumps.  The  crust  was  often  so  hard  that  a  horse 
could  almost  gallop  over  it  without  breaking  through.  There  was 
a  lane  leading  to  my  father's  house,  which  was  often  so  blocked 
with  snow  that  men  on  horseback  and  heavy  sleds  with  oxen  had 
to  come  and  open  a  way  for  us,  very  much  like  what  happened 
here  in  the  late  blizzard.  I  saw  a  large  vessel  hauled  on  sleds  by 
oxen  to  the  seaside  from  some  miles  in  the  interior,  where  it  had 
been  built. 

In  winter  our  amusements  were  ready  to  hand.  After  a  heavy 
fall  of  snow,  making  drifts  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  in  depth,  we 
boys  delighted  to  jump  from  the  roof  of  house  or  shed,  sinking 
almost  out  of  sight  in  the  soft,  white  yielding  cloud,  which  had 
come  from  the  skies  and  spread  itself  out  beneath,  apparently  for 
our  special  fun.  Burrowing  in  those  grand  drifts  on  the  sides  of 
ravines,  we  would  cut  out,  like  the  inhabitants  of  Petra,  from  the 
solid  rock,  halls  and  corridors,  which  delighted  us  like  the  crea- 
tions of  Aladdin  and  his  lamp.  In  these  rooms  we  could  have 
carpets  of  straw,  and  even  build  fires,  with  snow  chimneys  to  con- 
duct the  smoke  away,  thus  imitating  the  ice  cabins  of  the  Esqui- 
maux. We  built  snow  forts  with  supplies  of  snowball  ammu- 
nition ;  some,  as  large  as  one's  head,  were  bombshells  to  be 
hurled  on  our  enemies.  The  fort  would  be  attacked  and  defended 
with  great  valor,  generally  by  imaginary  British  and  American 
troops.  They  would  last  for  weeks,  almost  as  if  made  of  clay. 
The  sliding  was  perfect  by  day  and  by  night ;  often  we  went  down 
hills,  perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long,  with  railroad  speed,  the 
cold  air  making  every  nerve  tingle  with  pleasure. 

We  had  only  wood  for  fuel  and  open  fires,  with  only  one  Frank- 
lin stove  in  the  house.  Logging  was  at  that  time  one  of  the 
greatest  industries  of  Maine,  and  my  father  would  buy  a  large 
quantity  of  wood  and  have  it  hauled  on  sleds  in  winter,  and  in  the 
spring  it  would  be  sawed  and  packed  in  the  wood-shed  for  the 
next  winter.  He  would  get  100  cords  for  his  use  at  one  dollar  a 
cord. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
HOME  LIFE. 

Thanksgiving  Day  was  the  great  annual  home  festival  in  New 
England,  when  all  the  family  would  be  gathered  together,  the 
boys  returning  from  school  and  college. 

There  was  a  large  rock  on  the  hill  back  of  the  house,  where 
father  and  some  of  us  would  stahd  to  catch  the  first  sight  of 
Whiteface  and  the  chaise  that  brought  them  home.  They  would 
tramp  the  nine  miles  from  Brunswick  to  the  Kennebec  which 
they  crossed  on  the  ferry,  and  I  would  often  drive  seven  miles 
to  meet  them  on  this  side. 

Few  families  enjoyed  so  much  together  as  we  did.  I  recall  how 
bright  and  happy  father  and  mother  were,  and  how  happy  they 
made  us  feel.  It  was  an  uncommon  faculty  they  possessed  with- 
out much  talk.  I  can  hear  my  father's  voice  on  Thanksgiving 
morning  as  he  opened  his  large  Bible  saying,  "  We  will  read  the 
one  hundred  and  third  Psalm  this  morning.  How  much  we  have 
to  be  thankful  for !  "     He  always  read  that  Psalm  himself 

We  always  went  to  Church,  sometimes  in  a  sleigh  in  deep  snow, 
and  returned  to  feast  and  enjoy  ourselves.  The  governor  of  the 
State  used  to  appoint  the  day  and  I  recall  my  father  reading  in 
Church  the  Thanksgiving  proclamations  of  Governor  Albion  K. 
Parris,  whose  grandson  is  now  a  prominent  banker  and  worker  in 
the  Church  in  Washington.  I  think  that  Lincoln  was  the  first 
President  who  made  it  a  national  proclamation. 

Once  it  is  said  the  Governor  put  ofi"  Thanksgiving  Day  because 
the  ships  with  molasses  were  delayed  and  it  was  impossible  to 
celebrate  it  properly  without  molasses  for  the  pumpkin  pies. 

We  used  candles  for  light  and  sperm  oil  occasionally.  Matches 
were  unknown  until  long  after  I  was  grown.  The  "Tinder  Box  " 
was  their  precursor  and  was  as  indispensable  as  the  tea-kettle  that 
still  sings  on  the  stove.  Unknown  to  this  generation,  the  tinder 
box  is  worth  describing.  It  was  of  varied  forms  and  more  or  less 
coarsely  ornamental.  An  oblong  wooden  box  some  six  or  eight 
inches  long  and  three  or  four  in  width  it  was  divided  into  two 
parts.     In  one  was  the  tinder,  half  burned  linen  rag,  in  the  other 

26 


The  Tinder  Box.  27 

were  kept  the  flint,  steel  and  brimstone  matches.  The  flint  and 
steel  being  struck  together,  emitted  sparks,  which  fell  upon  and 
ignited  the  tinder.  The  matches  were  thin  slips  of  wood,  dipped 
in  melted  brimstone,  and  they  were  lit  from  the  tinder.  Often  the 
fire  would  be  covered  up  carefully  at  night,  and  one  neighbor 
would  give  coals  to  another  to  kindle  his  fire  in  the  morning. 
Neighbor  Gray's  chimney  was  large  enough  to  hold  a  bench  and 
there  we  often  sat  together.  I  used  to  go  there  for  fire  when  ours 
happened  to  go  out  and  the  tinder  box  was  not  in  order. 

As  to  children's  books,  of  which  there  is  now  such  a  deluge, 
we  had  only  Miss  Edgeworth's  Tales,  which  linger  still  in  my 
memory,  Sandford  and  Merton,  and  the  sempiternal  Robinson 
Crusoe.  When  I  was  in  London,  fifty  years  afterwards,  I  sought 
out  with  interest,  in  Bunhill  Fields,  the  tomb  of  Defoe,  its 
author.  We  had  few  books,  but  those  few  were  thoroughly 
conned— read  and  re-read,  so  that  perhaps  we  suffered  no  loss 
from  lack  of  children's  literature.  Periodicals  were  unknown, 
and  the  age  of  illustrated  magazines  was  far  in  the  future.  A 
weekly  quarto  sheet,  the  Boston  Messe^tger,  was  the  means  of  our 
communication  with  the  outer  worid.  The  London  Christiayi 
Observer  was  republished  in  this  country  about  that  time. 

We  had  many  traditions,  and  stories  of  the  early  days  still  were 
told  around  the  winter  fires.  I  remember  .seeing  many  of  the 
Revolutionary  soldiers,  with  their  Queen  Anne  muskets,  who 
talked  of  Burgoyne,  but  pronounced  it  Burgyne,  and  one  told  me 
of  the  burning  of  Chariestown  by  the  British,  after  Bunker  Hill, 
which  he  had  witnessed. 

I  used  to  hear  my  father  and  others  sing  hymns  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  though  they  were  not  very  poetical,  and  had  much 
about  bombs  and  wounds,  yet  I  can  imagine  they  were  comforting 
to  them  in  the  perils  of  war.     I  can  only  recall  a  few  lines  : 

"  War,  I  defy  thee, 
Clad  in  smoky  terrors, 
Bursting  from  bombshells, 
Roaring  from  cannon. 

"  Good  is  Jehovah 
In  bestowing  sunshine, 
Nor  less  His  goodness 
In  a  storm  of  thunder. 

'   Death  will  invade  us 
By  the  means  appointed, 


28  Watts'  Hymns. 

And  we  must  all  bow 
Before  the  King  of  Terrors. 

"  Nor  am  I  anxious, 
Nor  am  I  anxious. 
If  I  be  prepared, 
What  shape  he  comes  in." 

Watts  was  a  favorite  hymn-writer,  and  some  of  his  hymns  have 
been  familiar  to  me  for  seventy-five  years.  My  grandmother, 
who  died  suddenly,  repeated  the  day  before  her  death  his  striking 
Psalm  30  : 

"  Firm  was  my  health,  my  day  was  bright, 
And  I  presum'd  'twould  ne'er  be  night  ; 
Fondly  I  said  within  my  heart. 
Pleasure  and  peace  shall  ne'er  depart." 

Those  old  hymns,  like  Watts,  were  the  spiritual  food  of  our 
ancestors.     I  hope  some  day  to  know  good  Dr.  Watts. 

My  father  and  brothers  had  good  voices,  and  I  often  would  lie 
on  the  floor  and  listen  to  them  singing  in  the  evening.  I  will 
name  some  of  their  favorites.     Psalm  102,  Watts  : 

"  Spare  us,  O  Lord,  aloud  we  pray. 
Nor  let  our  sun  go  down  at  noon  ; 
Thy  years  are  one  eternal  day. 

And  must  thy  children  die  so  soon  !  " 

Psalm  146  : 

"I'll  praise  my  Maker  with  my  breath, 
And  when  my  voice  is  lost  in  death. 

Praise  shall  employ  my  nobler  powers  ; 
My  days  of  praise  shall  ne'er  be  past 
While  life  and  thought  and  being  last, 

Or  immortality  endures." 

When  very  young  I  once  went  with  my  father  to  the  burial  of 
a  man,  and  I  can  remember  my  father  standing  in  the  doorway 
and  repeating  in  his  deep  bass  voice  that  solemn  hymn.  No.  88  : 

"  Life  is  the  time  to  serve  the  Lord, 
The  time  to  insure  the  great  reward  : 
And  while  the  lamp  holds  out  to  burn. 
The  vilest  sinner  may  return." 

It  made  a  deep  impression  on  me.  My  father  repeated  in  his  last 
moments  Hymn  31,  which  his  mother  had  taught  him  eighty 
years  before  : 


Sunday  Evenings.  29 

"^Why  should  we  start,  and  fear  to  die, 
What  tim'rous  worms  we  mortals  are  ! 

Death  is  the  gate  of  endless  joy. 
And  yet  we  dread  to  enter  there. 

"  Jesus  can  make  a  dying  bed 

Feel  soft  as  downy  pillows  are  ; 
While  on  His  breast  I  lean  my  head, 

And  breathe  my  life  out  sweetly  there." 

I  repeated  this  last  verse  to  Miss  Fish,  in  her  sickness.  She 
had  had  no  religious  training,  and  was  much  comforted  by  it  and 
died  a  Christian.  These  and  many  other  hymns  have  been  much 
in  my  memory,  and  I  read  them  over  and  over  even  now.  My 
mother  used  to  tell  of  a  hymn,  which  sung  to  a  fugue  tune  became 
ludicrous:  "Ran  down  the  beard,  ran  down,  ran  down  the 
beard,  the  beard,  to  Aaron's  feet."  Sometimes  it  happened  Ihey 
sang  on  a  hot  day,  "  Oh  for  a  cooling,  oh  for  a  cooling,  oh  for  a 
cooling  stream." 

On  Saturday  and  Sunday  evenings  we  had  much  singing,  and 
all  the  family  save  myself  could  sing  well.  The  Sabbath  was 
observed  from  sunset  of  Saturday  to  sunset  of  Sunday.  We  were 
not  allowed  to  walk  or  whistle  on  Sunday.  The  present  statute 
in  Massachusetts  which  defines  the  L,ord's  Day  as  from  midnight 
to  midnight  is  as  late  as  1844. 

We  never  had  any  evening  services,  but  even  in  towns  there 
was  but  a  short  intermission  between  the  morning  and  afternoon 
sermons.  In  the  Memorial  of  Rev.  Dr.  Crocker,  of  our  Church, 
Dr.  Lippitt  gives  an  account  of  the  intense  interest  aroused  by  a 
Christmas-Eve  night  service  held  in  Dr.  Crocker's  church  in 
Providence,  when  I  was  a  child.  The  streets  leading  to  the  church, 
some  two  hours  before  the  service,  were  alive  with  people  to  wit- 
ness the  novel  and  strange  sight  of  St.  John's  opened  after  night  for 
Divine  worship.  The  house  was  densely  filled  and  packed,  pews 
and  aisles,  and  hundreds  were  turned  away  from  gaining  entrance 
even  to  the  vestibule.  His  text  was  St.  John  iv.,  10  :  "  If  thou 
knewestthe  gift  of  God,"  &c.  Dr.  Crocker's  countenance  and 
manner  showed  how  solemnly  he  felt  the  responsibility  of  address- 
ing them.  The  stillness  of  death  pervaded  the  assembly  during 
the  delivery  of  the  sermon,  nearly  an  hour  long.  Many  were 
convicted  and  converted  by  that  sermon.  Eternity  alone  will  dis- 
close the  momentous  results  of  that  first  night  service  in  St. 
John's.     Now    an    evening    service    and    sermon  are   the    rule 


30  Sunday  Observance. 

everywhere,  but  there  is  great  difiBculty  in  securing  the  attend- 
ance of  any  great  number  of  people  who  have  been  out  in  the 
morning.  This  difficulty  is  felt  everywhere,  in  city  and  in  country 
alike,  in  small  and  large  churches,  and  many  expedients  have  been 
devised  for  securing  a  better  attendance.  In  the  cities  this  might 
be  secured  by  an  exchange  with  a  neighboring  rector,  who  by 
arranging  a  series  of  sermons  might,  by  the  new  voice  and  differ- 
ent treatment,  arouse  interest  so  as  to  induce  the  congregation  to 
attend.  Or  it  might  be  possible,  through  the  Brotherhood  of 
St.  Andrew,  and  making  the  pews  free  at  the  evening  service,  to 
secure  a  different  congregation  from  that  of  the  morning. 

As  it  is  now,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  Sunday  with  many  Kpisco- 
palians,  as  with  the  Roman  Catholics,  is  considered  at  an  end 
after  the  morning  service.  This  is  cutting  short  the  Lord's  por- 
tion of  time,  and  I  fear  its  evil  result  upon  Christian  character. 
The  extreme  of  the  Puritan  Sabbath  is  in  danger  of  being  re- 
placed by  the  laxity  of  the  Continental  Sunday.  We  went  to 
meeting  morning  and  afternoon  always,  as  did  all  respectable 
people,  as  we  thought,  and  the  congregation  was  as  large  in  the 
afternoon  as  in  the  morning.  If  any  one  had  been  seen  driving 
out  of  town  on  Sunday  morning  or  afternoon,  he  would  have  lost 
standing  in  the  community.  Often  the  minister  would  continue 
his  subject  in  the  afternoon,  with  the  same  hearers. 

There  were  no  Missionary  Societies  and  not  much  interest  in 
missions  in  my  boyhood.  The  year  I  was  born  Messrs.  Judson, 
Hall,  Newell,  Nott  and  Rice  were  ordained  in  Salem,  Mass.,  for 
Missionary  work  in  India,  and  soon  set  sail,  the  advance  guard 
of  a  noble  host. 

Sabbath-schools  were  then  just  becoming  common,  and  I  went 
very  young  and  received  a  prize  for  learning  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  E.  E.  Hale  says  he  was  not  allowed  to  enter  Sunday- 
school  until  he  was  six  years  old,  being  turned  away  twice. 

I  remember  hearing  a  Temperance  sermon,  a  rare  thing  at  that 
time,  and  a  sermon  on  the  text  "Come,  ye  children,  hearken 
unto  me  "  in  which  the  preacher  applied  it  to  children. 

My  Puritan  home  of  eighty  years  ago  had  no  stern  or  unfeeling 
parents,  to  inspire  children  with  terror  or  cast  gloom  upon  their 
young  hearts,  as  has  been  sometimes  represented.  My  father, 
though  strict  in  discipline  and  having  the  nickname  from  his 
scholars  of  System,  was  cheerful  and  kindly.  He  might  forget 
some  things,  but  he  never  forgot  the  morning  and  evening  family 


A  Happy  Family.  31 

prayers,    which  were  like  the  Jewish  tamid,  a   continual  daily 
oflfering. 

I  heard  my  father  say  that  he  would  rather  give  up  his  breakfast 
than  family  prayers.  We  used  to  read  in  turn  a  verse  from  the 
chapter  at  prayers  ;  even  the  younger  ones,  who  could  not  read 
well,  would  have  their  turn.  This  made  us  very  familiar  with 
the  Bible.  There  was  always  the  blessing  and  return  of  thanks 
at  each  meal,  a  pious  custom  often  now  disused,  I  fear. 

We  were  taught  to  see  the  hand  of  God  in  everything  and  to 
realize  His  constant  presence.  How  it  was  done  I  cannot  tell, 
for  neither  father  nor  mother  talked  to  us  much  about  these 
things.  It  must  have  been  the  force  of  example  and  the  religious 
atmosphere  that  filled  the  house,  unconsciously  affecting  us,  as 
does  the  earthly  atmosphere. 

I  think  of  my  father  with  all  his  cares  and  duties  as  always 
most  cheerful,  and  of  my  mother  as  never  too  tired  to  entertain 
us  by  repeating  poetry  or  telling  stories,  and  both  making  our 
home  always  bright  and  happy. 

I  might  mention  here  what  a  great  change  has  taken  place  in 
drinking  customs  since  I  was  a  boy.  Then  it  was  thought  uncivil 
not  to  offer  any  visitor,  much  more  the  minister,  Jamaica  rum,  or 
whiskey,  when  he  called,  and  it  was  thought  impossible  for  him 
to  refuse  it.  A  decanter  of  wine  or  spirits  stood  on  every  side- 
board. When  as  a  boy  I  went  around  with  my  father,  who  never 
drank  much,  and  afterwards  became  a  total  abstainer,  I  used  to 
have  the  "  heel-taps,"  as  they  were  called.  Deacons  and  elders 
sold  liquor  as  regularly  as  groceries. 

A  minister  once  was  noticed  to  be  very  thick  in  his  speech  and 
much  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  and  the  congregation  ap- 
pointed the  deacons  to  investigate  the  matter.     In  excuse  he  said 

he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  getting  his  liquor  from  Deacon 

but  he  had  lately,  through  a  friend,  got  some  of  the  genuine  stuflf 
from  Boston,  and  though  he  had  taken  only  the  usual  quantity, 
it  affected  him  as  they  saw.  Deacon moved  to  drop  the  in- 
quiry, fearing,  doubtless,  that  his  watered  rum  might  suffer. 
Cider-drinking  was  very  common,  and  it  made  men  stupid  and 
quarrelsome.  Cider-drunkards  showed  it  in  the  face.  I  have 
never  seen  any  since.  Dr.  Leonard  Woods,  Professor  at  Andover 
Seminary,  said  he  had  known  forty  ministers  to  die  drunkards. 
The  temptations  then  to  drinking  were  much  greater  than  now, 
for  the  minister  in  this  country  and  England  would  take  a  glass 


32  New  England  Rum. 

of  port  or  something  of  the  sort,  before  and  after  preaching.  We 
may  thank  God  that  this  evil  is  lessening.  In  1812  a  gill  of  rum, 
whiskey  or  brandy  was  made  part  of  the  regular  daily  ration  of 
each  soldier. 

Improvements  have  been  made  in  ethical,  not  to  say  Christian, 
living  during  the  century  : 

"  Dr.  Chambers,  of  Philadelphia,  tells  us  that  in  1825  he  went 
to  a  funeral  of  a  prominent  member  of  his  church,  and  that  he 
and  the  sexton  were  the  only  persons  who  were  not  in  danger  of 
falling  into  the  grave  through  drunkenness.  On  the  next  Sun- 
day he  told  his  people  that  he  would  never  again  officiate  at  a 
funeral  of  a  church  member  where  liquor  was  freely  distributed. 
As  late  as  1835  a  deacon  in  a  prominent  church  in  Boston  was  at 
once  a  distiller  of  whiskey  and  at  the  same  time  an  agent  for  the 
Bible  Society." 

Coal  was  never  dreamed  of  as  fuel,  but  might  sometimes 
be  found  upon  the  mantel-piece  as  a  curiosity.  In  this  year, 
1902,  when  coal  is  so  necessary  it  is  strange  to  know  that 
the  year  I  was  born,  nine  wagons  loaded  with  anthracite  coal 
were  hauled  106  miles  to  Philadelphia  ;  two  loads  were  sold  at 
cost  of  transportation,  and  seven  given  away,  and  the  sale  was 
denounced  as  a  fraud. 

Anthracite  coal  was  first  used  in  Boston  about  1824  and  gas 
about  the  same  time,  though  not  used  in  houses  until  I  came  to 
Virginia,  about  1836. 


CHAPTER  V. 
COLLEGE  DAYS. 

THE  old  are  generally  praisers  of  the  past  and  its  ways.  It  is 
well  for  them  to  show  the  reasons  for  their  belief  and  give 
some  account  of  their  experiences.  I  do  not  claim  that  my  college 
life  and  advantages  were  equal  in  some  respects  to  the  present. 
Yet  I  think  we  had  to  study  then  as  hard  as  now,  with  fewer  dis- 
tractions, and  the  discipline  of  the  mind  and  faculties  was 
thorough.  We  did  not  have  such  scientific  grammars  or  such  full 
lexicons,  or  such  a  bewildering  array  of  sciences  ;  but  with  our 
Graeca  Minora  and  Majora,  and  the  Delphin  editions  of  Greek 
and  Latin  Classics,  with  notes  in  Latin,  and  Schrevelius'  Greek 
Lexicon  with  Latin  definitions,  we  soon  gained  a  mastery  of  the 
languages,  and  read  the  higher  works  with  more  fullness  perhaps 
than  now,  where  a  closer  attention  is  paid  to  the  details  of  lan- 
guage, its  grammar,  construction,  and  metre.  Pickering's  Greek 
Lexicon  with  English  definitions  was  the  first  one  ever  introduced 
into  this  country,  and  was  hailed  with  delight.  We  gained  also 
a  love  of  the  classics  which  stayed  with  us,  and  this  led  to  our 
keeping  up  these  studies  in  a  measure  all  our  lives.  Now,  what 
with  the  cramming  and  pressure  to  pass  severe  examinations, 
there  has  come  a  desire  to  pass  and  then  never  to  take  up  the 
study  again,  or  in  the  press  of  life  and  its  many  engagements 
there  is  not  the  same  leisure  and  opportunity  to  keep  up  one's 
college  studies.  Certainly,  I  do  not  see  that  those  who  now  study 
Latin  and  Greek  have  any  greater  love  for  or  acquaintance  with 
the  literature  than  we  had  in  that  earlier  day.  There  is  more 
scientific  knowledge  now,  but  the  mind  is  not  better  trained,  there 
is  no  sounder  judgment,  or  clearer  insight  into  difficult  questions 
than  under  the  old  system.  Students  learned  in  grammatical 
construction  often  never  dream  of  reading  Latin  or  Greek  for 
pleasure  or  self  culture.  Woodrow  Wilson,  Professor  at  Prince- 
ton University,  believes  in  the  old  system  of  classical  training,  I 
am  glad  to  hear. 

A  few  words  must  be  said  about  Bowdoin  College.  An  attempt 
was  made  in  1787  to  establish  a  college  in   the  District  of  Maine, 

33 


34  BowDoiN  College. 

and  the  24th  of  June,  1794,  the  charter  was  signed  and  the  college 
was  called  Bowdoin  in  honor  of  Governor  Bowdoin,  the  friend  of 
Washington  and  a  patriot.  His  son  James  Bowdoin  perpetuated 
his  father's  memory  by  most  liberal  gifts  to  the  college  of  lands 
and  money,  a  rare  collection  of  minerals  and  metals,  a  large  and 
and  valuable  library,  and  a  gallery  of  paintings  accumulated  in 
France.  The  charter  established  a  college  for  the  purpose  of 
educating  youth  and  promoting  virtue  and  piety  and  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  languages  and  of  the  useful  and  liberal  arts  and  sciences. 
"Those  were  the  days,"  says  Chief  Justice  Fuller  in  his  Centen- 
nial Address  at  Bowdoin  June,  1894 — "we  trust  in  every  funda- 
mental sensethey  are  still  with  us — when  all  alike  regarded  virtue 
and  piety  as  essential  elements  of  education,  and  religion  as  the 
chief  corner-stone  of  an  educational  institution.  It  was  impossi- 
ble that  [any  other  view  could  be  entertained.  Religion  of  some 
kind  has  been  the  basis  of  education,  of  whatever  kind  and  at 
whatever  time  ;  and  as  the  things  of  truth,  of  honesty,  of  justice, 
of  purity,  of  loveliness  and  of  good  report  were  the  acknowledged 
ends  of  education,  these  were  to  be  attained  only  through  the 
spiritual  forces  of  the  Christian  religion,  by  which  human  culture 
had  been  preserved  and  through  which  it  was  to  reach  its 
highest  development.  The  charter  did  but  adopt  the  language  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  State,  which  declared  that  knowledge, 
wisdom  and  virtue  were  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  peo- 
ple's rights  and  liberties."  These  wise  and  weighty  words  of  our 
Chief-Justice  deserve  to  be  remembered  by  all  interested  in  edu- 
cation. 

Another  graduate  equally  distinguished  in  another  calling, 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  has  said  in  his  earlier  novel,  "  If  this  in- 
stitution did  not  offer  all  the  advantages  of  older  and  prouder 
seminaries,  its  deficiencies  were  compensated  to  its  students  by 
the  inculcation  of  regular  habits,  and  of  a  deep  and  awtul  sense 
of  religion,  which  seldom  deserted  them  in  their  course  through 
life."  This  influence  doubtless  affected  him  in  writing  his  masterly 
stories,  which  treat  of  the  profound  problems  of  life,  with  its  sin 
and  crime,  the  mystery  of  pain,  the  reason  and  value  of  existence, 
the  law  of  repentance,  and  the  cure  for  the  sinning  Jsoul.  This 
active  moral  and  religious  influence  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  Ameri- 
can system. 

At  one  of  the  German  universities  a  Professor  of  Harvard  gave 
one   of  the   Professors   some    account  of   the  discipline  of    the 


The  College  Course.  35 

American  colleges,  especially  its  moral  and  religious  tone,  the 
stated  morning  and  ev^ening  service  of  the  chapel,  and  the  watch 
over  the  morals  and  character  of  the  students.  The  German 
uttered  an  exclamation  of  surprise  and  gratification:  "Would 
God  we  had  the  same  !  " 

Bowdoin  College  had  then,  as  it  has  now,  the  regular  college 
course  of  four  years,  with  mathematical  and  classical  studies,  as 
fixed  as  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  binding  on  every  one  ; 
but  it  also  opened  up  to  the  student  every  department,  as  the  ad- 
vancing standards  of  the  time  demanded.  Its  scheme  of  discipline 
and  study  aimed  to  fit  the  student  for  the  pursuits  of  practical  life 
and  for  the  prosecution  of  advanced  study  in  any  department. 

Dr.  Daniel  R.  Goodwin,  once  a  Professor  there,  in  his  address 
at  Bowdoin  in  1873,  has  wisely  said  :  "The  old  function  of  the 
college  proper  will  always  be  required.  If  our  colleges  were  all 
at  once  transformed  into  German  universities  we  should  need  and 
we  should  soon  establish  in  their  place  our  old  colleges,  or  the 
German  gymnasia,  to  perform  what  would  thus  be  abandoned  of 
their  present  office — a  fundamental  general  training,  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  generous,  liberal  classical  culture,  the  proper  discipline 
of  humanity.  This  would  be  needed  for  the  professions,  too, 
especially  for  that  of  the  clergy.  And  as  regards  science  itself, 
it  will  always  be  found  that  no  minds  are  so  well  prepared 
to  grasp  and  preserve  the  properly  .yaV^z/z)?*;  character  and  bearings 
of  what  is  presented,  even  in  the  popular  lecture,  as  those  which 
have  been  disciplined  by  a  thorough  classical  and  mathematical 
training.  .  .  .  There  is  no  hostility  between  science  and 
the  classics.  .  .  .  Let  us  propose  no  such  miserable  alterna- 
tives as  learning  or  science,  science  or  religion  ;  rather  let  our 
watchwords  and  battle-cry  be — learning  and  science,  science  ayid 
religion,  'now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable.'  " 

It  was  the  twenty-sixth  institution  of  learning  established  in 
this  country,  and  in  its  hundred  years  of  existence  has  had  many 
graduates  who  have  taken  the  first  place  in  every  calling  and 
position.  Upon  its  roll  stand  the  names  of  a  President  and  nine 
Senators  of  the  United  States,  a  Speaker  of  the  National  House, 
a  Chief-Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  twenty-five  members  of 
Congress,  many  governors,  foreign  ministers,  legislators,  eminent 
divines,  presidents  and  professors  in  colleges  and  seminaries, 
missionaries,  editors,  and  noble  and  useful  men  in  every  depart- 
ment of  life. 


36  Bowdoin's  Famous  Sons. 

No  college  in  the  land  has  had  a  roll  of  alumni,  in  the  ratio  of 
members,  superior  to  Bowdoin  in  force  and  brains.  If  it  had  a 
remarkable  faculty  it  had  and  could  not  help  having,  out  of  such 
a  population,  a  remarkable  body  of  students. 

Its  special  season  of  glory  is  the  time  when  Longfellow  and 
Hawthorne  shed  undying  lustre  on  the  class  of  1825.  As  Justice 
Fuller  says,  "In  that  class  and  in  the  classes  that  immediately 
preceded  and  followed  it,  covering  a  period  of  seven  years,  we 
find  the  names  of  men  of  such  eminence  as  jurists,  physicians, 
authors,  teachers  and  divines,  statesmen  and  orators,  as  would 
render  any  school  illustrious.  Among  them  were  six  members  of 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  Franklin  Pierce,  President, 
Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  Longfellow,  John  S.  C.  Abbott,  George 
B.  Cheever,  Sergeant  S.  Prentiss,  Samuel  S.  Boyd.  Calvin  E. 
Stowe,  and  others  who  achieved  a  national  reputation,  and  whose 
names  are  entered  upon  the  lasting  memorials  of  American 
history."  Hawthorne  and  Longfellow  sat  near  together,  but 
their  great  fame  was  not  then  imagined. 

This  somewhat  curious  incident  illustrates  the  uncertain 
promises  and  prophecies  of  the  college  period.  Longfellow  and 
Abbott  were  on  the  best  terms  as  classmates  and  friends,  both 
being  young  and  congenial  and  decidedly  literary.  It  was  good- 
naturedly  proposed  by  some  one  that  each  should  write  a  poem 
under  given  circumstances,  and  a  committee  of  the  class  be 
appointed  to  decide  upon  the  merits  of  these  productions.  They 
did  so  and  the  laurel  was  given  to  Abbott,  but  it  was  his  last 
attempt  at  verse-making. 

The  stage-coach  that  brought  the  semi-weekly  mail  from  Boston 
was  the  chief  means  of  communication  with  the  outside  world. 
Drawn  by  four  strong,  spirited  horses,  as  Horatio  Bridge  says  in 
his  charming  Recollections  of  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  at  the 
average  speed  of  ten  miles  an  hour  along  the  smooth  roads,  men 
made  pleasant  friendships  often  with  their  fellow-travellers. 
Among  the  passengers  in  one  of  these  coaches,  in  the  summer Jof 
1 82 1,  were  Franklin  Pierce,  Jonathan  Cilley,  and  Alfred  Mason, 
son  of  the  famous  lawyer  Jeremiah  Mason,  from  New  Hampshire, 
and  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  from  Salem,  These  four  became 
intimate  friends,  and  it  is  quite  remarkable  that  four  young  men 
of  such  ability  should  have  met  together  in  that  way. 

I  entered  the  Freshman  Class  of  Bowdoin  College  in  Septem- 
ber, 1827,  two  years  after  the  famous  class  of  1825,  at  almost  the 


Coi^LEGE  Prayers.  37 

same  age  as  my  father  when  he  entered  the  Revolutionary  army. 
I  was  nearly  fifteen,  but,  owing  to  my  better  training  in  Latin 
and  Greek,  I  passed  an  examination  that  was  considered  unusually 
good.  I  belonged  to  the  Peucinian  Society,  and  was  one  of  the 
four  out  of  my  class  elected  to  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  to  which  sev- 
eral professors,  among  them  Longfellow,  and  most  of  the  conserv- 
ative students  belonged. 

The  college  and  its  grounds  were  not  attractive  as  they  now 
are.  There  were  three  brick  buildings  and  a  wooden,  unpainted 
chapel,  the  upper  part  being  used  for  the  library  and  the  lower 
part  for  prayers  and  other  exercises.  It  had  a  cupola  in  which 
was  the  hard-working  college  bell,  which  groaned  over  its  inces- 
sant labors.     The  poet  Moore  writes  beautifully  of 

"  Those  evening  bells, 
How  many  a  tale  their  music  tells 
Of  youth  and  home  and  that  sweet  time 
When  last  I  heard  their  soothing  chime." 

I  cannot  adopt  his  language  nor  did  he  speak  of  those  mor7iing 
bells,  which  awoke  us  from  the  sound  sleep  of  youth  by  their  dis- 
cordant clang.  The  winter's  storm  would  be  howling  without, 
the  thermometer  10°  below  zero,  the  snow  in  drifts  ten  feet  deep 
in  places,  when  we  were  obliged  to  rise  at  the  early  hour  of  six 
o'clock  in  winter  and  girding  on  our  plaid  cloaks  which  concealed 
a  multitude  of  defects  in  our  toilet,  we  hurried  into  the  cold 
chapel,  guiltless  of  register  or  steam  pipe.  There  President  Allen 
or  some  professor  read  a  chapter  of  the  Bible,  by  a  lamp  dimly 
burning,  and  the  prayers  followed. 

Immediately  after  prayers  the  first  recitation  was  held,  lasting 
until  breakfast,  after  seven  o'clock.  We  studied  and  slept  in 
plain,  unpainted  and  uncarpeted  rooms,  heated  only  by  open  fire, 
but  made  bright  and  cheerful  by  the  same,  wood  being  abundant 
at  one  dollar  a  cord.  For  sport  we  played  ball  on  the  campus, 
swam  in  the  Androscoggin,  shot  pigeons  and  picked  blueberries 
on  the  plains,  and  had  our  tavorite  walks  amid  the  whispering 
pines,  to  Consecrated  Rock  and  Paradise  Spring.  The  campus 
was  a  rough,  unenclosed  common,  with  trees  just  set  out.  The 
revenue  of  the  college  was  very  small,  and  everything  was  on  an 
economical  scale.  In  these  days  of  more  costly  education,  it  may 
be  of  interest  to  note  the  college  expenses  of  seventy  years  ago. 
This  is  an  actual  term  bill  of  that  period  : 


38  College  Expenses. 

For  tuition $8.00 

Chamber  rent 3.34 

Damages .60 

Sweeping  and  bedmaking 1.12 

lyibrary .50 

Monitor  and  Catalogues .13 

Bell .11 

Reciting- room .25 

Chemical  Lectures .25 

Fines  (perhaps  for  absence  or  "  unnecessary  walking  on 
Sunday,"  i.  e.,  a  stroll  after  morning  or  afternoon 
meeting) .20 

$14.50 

The  one  largest  expense  (excepting  books  and  stationery)  was 
the  "midnight  oil,"  which  was  bought  from  a  village  "store" 
and  burned  in  brass  or  Japanned  lamps. 

Certain  students,  says  Horatio  Bridge,  had  extra  lamp-fillers 
that  had  never  known  oil.  These  were  carried  in  broad  daylight 
across  the  campus,  full  of  a  liquid  more  quickly  and  pleasantly 
consumed,  for  grocerj'  stores  then  sold  "  wines  and  liquors  "  like 
other  goods.  If  there  "was  a  sound  of  revelry  by  night"  it 
usually  ceased  at  nine  o'clock. 

I,  with  other  students,  boarded  part  of  the  time  in  "commons." 
We  did  not  "  fare  sumptuously  every  day  "  on  a  dollar  a  week, 
which  was  the  price  of  our  board.  The  highest  charge  was  one 
dollar  and  a  half  or  two  dollars  a  week  for  table  board.  The  coffee 
was  sweetened  with  molasses,  "  long  sweetening,"  as  it  is  called 
in  the  West.  Graham  bread  was  much  used,  and  on  Sunday 
morning  we  always  had  pork  and  beans  and  brown  bread.  The 
fare  and  the  habits  of  eating  were  not  conducive  to  health,  as  we 
ate  rapidly,  often  spending  only  ten  minutes  at  a  meal.  The 
health  and  comfort  of  students  was  not  consulted,  and  the  life  was 
an  unnecessarily  hard  one,  I  think.  Edward  Everett  Hale  speaks 
on  this  point  just  what  I  experienced.  There  was  an  utter  dis- 
regard of  physical  health  in  the  arrangement  of  recitations,  and  a 
seemingly  utter  ignorance  of  any  connection  between  mind  and 
body.  All  the  year  the  same  distance  between  prayers  and  break- 
fast prevailed,  and  no  one  seemed  to  think  that  it  was  absolutely 
evil  to  work  the  brains  of  boys  who  had  had  no  food  for  thirteen 
or  fourteen  hours. 

Francis  lyieber  was  asked  to  prepare,  about  this  time,  the  fun- 


Cleveland  and  Newman.  39 

damental  rules  for  Girard  College,  and  in  his  curious  code  Article 
227  was  this  :  "  No  scientific  instruction  proper  should  be  given 
within  a  full  hour  after  dinner.  The  contrary  leads  to  vice."  In 
defiance  of  this  rule,  classes  went  at  once  from  dinner  to  recitation. 
1  was  never  told  that  I  ought  to  take  exercise  every  day,  and  I  lived 
in  the  college-yard,  studying,  day  in  and  day  out,  without  think- 
ing physical  exercise  was  necessary.  The  consequence  was  that 
many  became  confirmed  dyspeptics  or  broke  down  in  health. 
There  was  no  suspension  at  Christmas,  which  was  not  observed 
at  all,  for  we  had  recitations  on  that  day  just  as  on  any  other.  I 
was  never  told  anything  about  Christmas.  My  first  recollection 
of  Christmas  is  that  on  a  snowy  night,  when  at  Guilford,  Ver- 
mont, I  went  once  to  a  service  on  Christmas-Eve,  and  looked  on 
with  some  curiosity  at  the  decorations,  but  little  impression  was 
made  on  me — no  more  than  if  it  had  been  St.  Blaise's  Day. 

The  Professors  were  young  men  of  power — able,  earnest,  and 
enthusiastic  in  their  departments,  and  shallow  surface  work  was 
an  abomination  to  them.  Parker  Cleveland,  Professor  of  Natural 
Science,  was  one  of  the  first  professors  and  chosen  for  his  practical 
and  social  powers  as  well  as  for  his  learning.  He  was  the  father 
of  Mineralogy  in  this  country  and  published  the  first  work  on  that 
new  science,  which  made  him  well  known  in  Europe  as  well  as  in 
America.  It  was  a  great  treat  to  hear  his  lectures,  which  were 
delivered  early  in  the  morning.  His  experiments  were  always 
successful,  and  though  he  performed  them  hundreds  of  times,  his 
wonder  and  delight  seemed  always  fresh  at  the  successful  result, 
like  Professor  Farrar,  of  Cambridge,  whose  hair  stood  on  end  at 
the  success  of  his  experiments  in  Chemistry  and  Electricity. 
Professor  Cleveland's  countenance  was  stern  and  rugged,  and 
though  he  sometimes  excited  a  smile  in  the  class,  he  was  never 
guilty  of  one  himself,  though  he  was  kind  and  genial  and  none 
ever  inspired  more  kindly  respect.  He  taught  his  classes  for  fifty- 
three  years,  dying  as  he  was  preparing  to  go  to  recitation,  in  his 
eightieth  year.  I  see  again  an  old  man  of  rugged  features,  clad  in 
plain  garments,  standing  forth  in  an  unpainted  lecture  room,  like 
the  magician  of  old  armed  with  the  hidden  but  powerful  force  of 
the  laboratory  of  nature. 

Samuel  P.  Newman  taught  Rhetoric  and  Oratory,  and  his  text- 
book on  Rhetoric  passed  through  sixty  editions  in  this  country 
and  was  republished  in  England.  It  is  perhaps  the  best  elemen- 
tary treatise  on  that  subject. 


40  Upham  and  Smyth. 

Professor  Upham  taught  Mental  Philosophy  and  published  a 
work  on  the  subject,  which  has  been  the  text-book  in  many  col- 
leges and  schools.  He  was  young,  scholarly,  gifted  and  greatly 
beloved,  a  poet  and  an  author  of  note.  His  poem  on  I^ovell's 
Pond,  the  scene  of  an  early  Indian  massacre,  where  a  tree  still 
lived  that  was  planted  by  a  young  man  the  day  before  his  murder, 
made  an  impression  on  me.  He  was  the  only  mystic  I  knew. 
His  letters  from  Europe  are  original  and  striking.  An  extract 
from  one  from  Paris  is  given  :  "  Beauty  and  deformity  ;  life  and 
death  are  mingled  together.  Man  is  here,  but  where  is  the 
Maker  of  man.  I  sigh  for  my  native  land.  I  wish  to  hear  again 
the  prayers  and  the  hymns  of  her  cottages,  inspired  by  the  bless- 
ings around  them.  Her  rivers  are  her  lines  of  beauty  ;  her  hills 
are  her  monuments  ;  the  mighty  firmament  is  her  cathedral,  and 
God  heard  in  the  sighing  of  the  winds,  seen  in  the  richness  of  the 
vast  forests,  and  eternal  in  the  reproduction  of  her  wild  and  varied 
magnificence,  God  is  everywhere." 

Professor  William  Smyth,  nicknamed  "  Ferox,"  had  the  chair 
of  Mathematics,  and  published  several  mathematical  works,  which 
first  adopted  the  French  methods  and  made  an  era  in  this  study 
in  America,  and  he  made  a  great  light  dawn  upon  us  as  to  the 
science  of  numbers. 

Blackboards  were  first  used  in  1826,  here.  On  one  occasion,  I 
remember,  he  missed  several  students  from  his  class,  and  hastily 
concluded  that  there  was  a  "  combination  "  to  be  absent.  This 
was  always  dreaded — a  bete  noir  to  Professors,  who  continually 
suspected  combinations.  He  gave  out  an  extra  recitation  at  an 
unusual  hour  to  punish  them.  The  class  resented  his  act,  but 
did  nothing  until  the  final  examination  in  the  presence  of  the 
trustees,  when  they  all  agreed  to  fail  at  the  blackboard  exercises. 
So  when  the  problems  were  given  out  the  class  looked  blankly  at 
the  board  and  did  nothing,  to  the  great  mortification  and  annoy- 
ance of  the  Professor,  who  was  a  nervous  man,  with  whom  they 
thought  they  had  thus  gotten  even.  But  the  class  was  not  ad- 
vanced until  another  examination  at  the  opening  of  the  next 
session  ;  so  both  suffered. 

Our  Professor  of  Mathematics  used  to  speak  of  the  calculus  as 
a  powerful  instrument  of  investigation,  to  which  I  alluded  in  these 
terms,  Utinam  Calculus,  tale  pr(Tpote7is  instrumentum  investiga- 
iio7iis,  rnajore  studio  ac  affedu  recipiatur,  and  it  was  received  with 
great  applause  and  appreciation  by  the  students. 


AivPHEus  S.  Packard.  41 

I  had  the  salutatory  oration  of  my  class  in  the  Junior  year  and 
it  was  delivered  in  Latin  as  the  above  quotation  shows. 

The  Professor  of  Latin  and  Greek  was  my  brother,  Alpheus  S. 
Packard,  who  entered  college  in  181 2,  graduated  with  the  Latin 
Salutatory,  given  to  the  second  scholar  in  the  class,  in  1816, 
returned  as  tutor  in  18 19,  and  then  was  made  Professor,  and  con- 
tinued in  his  position  there  until  his  death,  in  July,  1884,  when  he 
was  acting  President  of  the  College.  Chief  Justice  Fuller,  in  his 
address  before  quoted,  says  :  "  Professor  Packard  is  immortalized 
in  the  lines  of  one  of  his  most  celebrated  pupils  and  associates." 
Longfellow,  in  the  poem  delivered  at  the  semi-centennial  of  his 
class  in  1875,  entitled  Morituri  Sahitainiis,  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated and  elegant  poems  he  ever  wrote,  turning  and  address- 
ing him,  thus  spoke  : 

"  They  are  no  longer  here  ;  they  all  are  gone 
Into  the  land  of  shadows, — all  save  one. 
Honor  and  reverence,  and  the  good  repute 
Which  follow  faithful  service  as  its  fruit, 
Be  unto  him  whom  living  we  salute." 

Justice  Fuller  goes  on  to  say:  "As  to  Professor  Packard  an 
observation  may  well  be  added.  In  his  address  of  1858  he  quotes 
Chief-Justice  Jay  as  saying  that  the  French  Revolution  '  banished 
silk  stockings  and  good  manners,'  but  he  furnished  in  himself, 
throughout  the  sixty-five  years  of  his  devotion  to  the  college  and 
its  work,  indubitable  proof  that  though  knee-breeches  had  dis- 
appeared, the  latter  part  of  the  opinion  of  the  Chief-Justice  must 
be  limited  in  its  application  or  be  overruled.  Professor  Packard 
had  elegant  and  courtly  manners,  and  was  very  handsome." 

In  1829  Henry  W.  Longfellow  became  Professor  of  Modern 
Languages  and  Librarian,  and  he  with  Goodwin  gave  to  Modern 
Languages  a  position  they  had  nowhere  else.  He  was  very  young 
and  handsome,  the  ideal  of  a  poet,  and  very  affable  to  the  stu- 
dents, who  were  more  at  ease  with  him  than  with  any  other  Pro- 
fessor. I  remember  well  my  first  sight  of  him,  dressed  in  English 
costume,  as  he  had  just  returned  from  Europe  ;  with  his  clear, 
ruddy  complexion,  auburn  hair  and  blue  eyes,  I  thought  him  the 
most  beautiful  man  I  had  ever  seen.  I  was  in  the  first  class  he 
taught.  He  taught  me  French  and  made  me  an  Assistant  Li- 
brarian. We  studied  Gil  Bias,  in  the  beginning  of  which  Gil 
Bias  says  of  his  mother  that  when  she  married  she  was  not  in  her 
first   youth,  in   French,  "  EUe  n'  etait  pas  dans  la  premiere  jeu- 


42  lyONGFELLOW'S  FrEINCH  ClASS. 

nesse,"  which  Longfellow  rendered  "  She  was  no  chicken."  It 
was  a  pleasure  to  recite  to  him  as  the  dullness  of  the  lecture  was 
enlivened  by  his  remarks.  He  gave  us  exercises  in  French,  and 
up  to  the  time  of  the  war  I  had  mine  with  Tres  Men  often  at  the 
bottom  in  his  own  handwriting.  He  published  Proverbs  Dra- 
matiques,  which  we  studied.  He  illustrated  the  proverb  "  Good 
wine  needs  no  bush  "  by  telling  us  that  in  his  travels  in  Spain  a 
"  bush  "  was  the  sign  over  wine-shops.  Though  unknown  then 
to  fame,  he  exerted  an  inspiring  influence  on  the  men.  He  was 
always  most  kindly  and  pleasant  in  his  relations  tome,  and  when, 
in  my  Junior  year,  I  had  a  bad  cough  from  inflammation  of  the 
lungs,  he  advised  me  to  discontinue  my  studies  and  try  to  get 
well. 

This  I  did  for  several  months,  and  in  April,  1829,  I  went  with 
a  friend  from  Wiscasset  to  New  York  in  a  schooner,  and  we  were 
out  five  nights.  We  went  up  the  Hudson  to  Albany  in  a  fine 
steamer  about  ten  miles  an  hour.  We  spent  a  day  and  night  at 
the  Catskill  Mountain  House,  some  miles  from  the  landing,  and 
under  the  inspiration  of  the  scene  I  wrote,  when  seventeen  years 
old,  a  poem  on  "Catskill  Falls." 

Phillips  Brooks  said  in  his  address  on  Poetry  at  the  Episcopal 
High  School  in  1859  :  "  There  are  times  when  it  is  good  for  any 
man  to  perpetrate  a  page  or  two  with  the  lines  ending  similarly. 
There  is  a  great  deal  of  poetry  that  is  perfectly  justifiable  to  write, 
but  utterly  inexcusable  to  show  when  it  is  written.  Verses,  like 
the  papers  in  lost  pocket-books,  of  no  possible  value  except  to  the 
owner.  *  *  *  There  are  times  when  the  dullest  souls  among 
us  fledge  unguessed — of  wings  and  turn  to  sudden  poets.  There 
are  brooks  whose  singing  is  contagious  and  sunrises  which  turn 
all  live  men  into  Memnon  statues."  So  I  will  not  print  my 
verses. 

We  hired  a  chaise  and  drove  to  Saratoga,  which  was  a  small 
place  with  few  visitors.  We  stopped  to  water  the  horse  in  a 
stream,  and,  to  our  dismay,  he  began  to  sink  in  a  quagmire,  but 
got  out  at  last  safely.  During  a  thunder-storm  we  stopped  at  a 
farm-house  and  were  given  some  boiled  cider,  very  strong  and 
sweet.  We  returned  the  same  way,  very  much  improved  in 
health.  We  spent  a  fortnight  in  New  York  city,  where  hogs  were 
running  in  the  streets.  I  paid  five  dollars  a  week  board  at  a 
boarding-house  on  Pearl  street,  and  I  thought  it  very  high.  New 
York  had  then  about  120,000   inhabitants.     I  heard   Dr.  Finney 


College  Friends.  43 

preach  in  Dr.  Spring's  Brick  Church,  and  he  impressed  me  very 
strongly.  Fish  were  not  allowed  to  be  sold,  unless  alive,  as  is  the 
case  now  in  Norway.  It  was  curious  to  see  them  floundering  in 
the  tubs  of  water.     Water  was  sold  from  barrels. 

I  returned  to  college  much  stronger  in  every  way.  I  graduated 
in  a  class  of  twent5'--one  and  was  given  the  lyatin  Salutatory,  the 
same  position  my  brothers  Alpheus  and  Charles  had  at  their  grad- 
uation. I  might  have  taken  a  higher  stand  if  I  had  been  two 
years  older  and  able  to  contend  with  more  mature  minds. 

Dr.  Daniel  R.  Goodwin,  the  late  distinguished  Professor  at  the 
Philadelphia  Divinity  School,  was  three  years  in  college  with  me, 
graduating  in  1832,  when  two  years  older  than  myself.  He  was 
unquestionably  the  ablest  man  in  the  college.  He  was  President 
of  the  Athenaean  Society,  and  his  essay  against  Radicalism  for  his 
M.  A.  degree  was  published  in  a  pamphlet  and  was  received  with 
more  attention  because  Professor  Smyth  was  considered  a  Radical. 
Goodwin  succeeded  Ivongfellow,  whose  departure  caused  Mr. 
Davies  to  remark  that  other  institutions  not  only  borrowed  our 
oil  but  took  away  our  lamps  also. 

Let  me  quote  Justice  Fuller's  tribute  to  Dr.  Goodwin,  whose 
name  and  memory  we  honor  highly  in  our  Church  :  "  The  wide 
and  varied  learning,  the  accurate  scholarship,  the  critical  and 
incisive  intellect  of  Goodwin,  continued  in  other  fields  of  useful- 
ness the  high  distinction  which  accompanied  his  efibrts  here, 
while  his  remarkable  power  in  debate  gave  him  deserved  weight 
in  the  councils  of  the  Church  of  which  he  was  a  member." 

Cyrus  Hamlin,  the  great  missionary  in  Turkey,  was  with  me 
one  year  in  college.  While  there  he  made  a  perfect  model  of  a 
steam  engine,  which  is  still  preserved,  and  his  natural  gifts  were 
developed  by  his  Bowdoin  training,  so  that  he  was  enabled  to 
meet  the  greatest  diflSculties  in  that  far-ofi"  land,  and  to  do  a 
wondrous  work  in  so  many  different  lines.  He  is  but  one  illustra- 
tion showing  that  the  faculties  trained  and  the  mind  disciplined 
by  a  college  education  best  fit  a  man  for  practical  life  and  business 
affairs.  He  came  to  Alexandria  in  1837  and  wrote  to  me  in  1899. 
I  think  we  appreciated  more  highly  our  privileges  than  students 
seem  to  do  now.  The  old  college  life  formed  habits  of  diligence, 
application  and  energy,  taught  us  to  use  our  wits,  to  receive  an 
impulse  not  only  from  teachers  but  from  fellow  students.  It  cer- 
tainly turned  out  men  who  have  grappled  successfully  with  the 
problem  of  life. 


44  Hawthorne. 

It  turned  out  the  earliest  of  our  great  poets,  Longfellow,  and  the 
first  novelist  of  his  age,  Hawthorne,  the  Shakspere  of  human 
nature  in  fiction,  who  explored  the  deepest  recesses  of  the  human 
heart  ;  not  to  mention  those  sons  distinguished  in  the  State,  in 
religious  work  and  in  every  department  of  life. 

I  know  of  no  author  in  the  English  language  who  has  afibrded 
me  so  much  entertainment  as  Hawthorne.  A  master  of  Knglish 
prose,  he  has  covered  every  portion  of  its  literature  with  the  glory 
of  his  genius.  His  Wonder  Book,  suited  to  young  and  old  alike  ; 
his  Note  Books,  full  of  keen  and  delicate  observation  of  all  peo- 
ples and  lands  that  he  visited  ;  his  Short  Stories  and  Novels,  and 
his  religious  allegory,  The  Celestial  Railroad,  have  beguiled  many 
weary  hours  in  my  later  life. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

RELIGIOUS  INFLUENCES. 

IN  the  same  class  with  Cyrus  Hamlin,  was  Henry  B.  Smith,  the 
foremost  Presbyterian  divine  in  his  day  in  this  country,  a 
Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly,  and   a  broad-minded, 
noble-hearted  man.     He  was  converted  while  at  Bowdoin  and 
had  wonderful  influence  on  others. 

We  like  to  recall  these  men,  who,  mingling  with  us  on  the  play- 
ground and  in  the  class-rooms  as  equals,  have  risen  above  their 
fellows  and  written  their  names  on  history's  fair  page. 

It  was  at  Bowdoin  College  that  nearly  all  of  these  men  received 
their  strong  religious  impressions  and  confessed  Christ  and  decided 
on  their  course.  It  was  particularly  so  of  Calvin  K.  Stowe,  of 
Jacob  Abbott  and  his  four  brothers,  of  Rufus  Anderson,  for  more 
than  fifty  years  the  Christian  Secretary  of  State,  as  it  were,  in 
one  of  the  great  departments  of  Christ's  kingdom,  the  American 
Board  of  Missions,  of  Cyrus  Hamlin,  who  there  decided  to  be  a 
missionary  ;  of  Smith  and  Goodwin,  as  named  above ;  of  Ezra 
Abbott,  reading  from  his  Greek  Testament  as  he  led  the  Sunday- 
morning  meeting  of  the  "  Praying  Circle,"  which  was  one  of  the 
religious  forces  of  the  College — an  Erasmus,  it  is  said,  in  scholar- 
ship, and  more  than  an  Erasmus  in  moral  courage  ;  of  George  B. 
Cheever,  that  fervid  and  fearless  prophet  of  the  L/Ord ;  and  of 
unnumbered  others,  whose  names  are  written  in  heaven.  John 
Rand  of  Portland,  Me.,  my  class-mate,  is  now  the  oldest  graduate. 
He  has  had  the  settlements  of  large  estates,  and  isja  man  of  the 
highest  integrity. 

In  the  village  church  which  the  students  attended,  the  Rev. 
Asa  Mead  was  for  a  time  the  minister.  He  had  a  stern,  severe 
aspect  and  manner,  and  on  one  occasion,  when  the  students  were 
restless  and  were  shuffling  their  feet,  he  shook  his  fist  at  them  and 
reproved  them  very  severely,  and  he  was  unpopular  with  them. 
He  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  George  Adams,  his  exact  opposite 
in  every  respect,  and  a  model  of  Christian  suavity  and  gentleness. 
I  remember  his  texts  and  sermons  to  this  day,  after  sixty-five 
years,  especially  a  sermon  on  Deut.  xxxii.,  31  :   "Their  rock  is 

45 


46  College  Preachers. 

not  as  our  rock,  our  enemies  themselves  being  judges."  Often 
visiting  ministers  preached  to  us.  I  well  remember  that  as  I  sat 
in  the  gallery  above  the  pulpit  I  saw  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  takeout 
of  his  vest  pocket  a  needle  and  thread  and  calmly  sew  together 
the  loose  scraps  of  the  sermon  he  was  to  preach.  His  habits  of 
preparation  were  unusual.  If  he  was  to  preach  in  the  evening  he 
was  to  be  seen  all  day  talking  with  whoever  would  talk,  accessible 
^o  all,  full  of  everybody's  aflfairs,  business,  and  burdens  till  an 
hour  or  two  before  the  time,  when  he  would  rush  up  into  his  study 
(which  he  always  preferred  should  be  the  topmost  room  of  the 
house),  and,  throwing  off  his  coat,  after  a  swing  or  two  with  the 
dumbbells  to  settle  the  balance  of  his  muscles,  he  would  sit  down 
and  dash  ahead,  making  quantities  of  hieroglyphic  notes  on  small 
stubbed  bits  of  paper,  about  as  big  as  the  palm  of  his  hand. 

President  William  Allen  sometimes  preached,  and  once  said  : 
"  If  there  were  a  ray  of  hope  for  the  impenitent  after  death, 
I  would  expand  it  into  a  rainbow  which  would  span  the  great 
gulf  between  heaven  and  hell."  Some  one  preached  on  "The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,"  and  the 
whole  sermon  was  a  running  parallel  between  mustard  and  the 
Gospel ;  mustard  was  pungent,  so  was  the  Gospel.  It  violated  a 
rule  of  interpretation,  it  went  on  all-fours. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Goss,  of  Boothbay,  preached  there  on  Zaccheus' 
conversion.  He  dwelt  on  his  being  little  of  stature,  and  said,  as 
well  as  I  remember,  "  Small  men  surrounded  by  a  crowd  taller 
than  themselves  naturally  seek  some  elevation  from  which  to  sur- 
vey what  is  going  on,"  and  later  on  made  this  statement :  "  Zac- 
cheus went  to  a  sycamore  tree  and  grasped  its  trunk,  as  does  the 
monarch  of  the  forest  [a  bear]  until  it  shook  to  its  topmost  twig." 

I  have  heard  the  father  of  James  R.  lyowell  preach,  who  was 
for  fifty-five  years  pastor  of  a  Congregational  Church  in  Boston  ; 
also  Edward  Everett,  who  was  at  eighteen  a  wonderful  speaker. 
I  heard  R.  W.  Emerson,  but  it  was  not  like  true  preaching  ;  he 
seemed  to  have  no  message  to  deliver.  This  was  the  case  with 
most  Unitarians.  There  was  no  "sure  and  certain  hope" 
or  "comfortable  faith."  They  got  no  further  than  the 
philosophers  of  antiquity.  The  Christian  revelation  counted 
for  little  with  them.  There  is  something  inexpressibly  sad 
in  the  contemplation  of  a  body  of  men  of  high  culture,  generous 
human  sympathies,  refined  tastes,  and  disciplined  characters, 
self-contained,  calm,  serene,  looking    forth    upon   the  world   of 


My  Religious  Impressions.  47 

struggling,  suffering  men,  from  a  lofty  philosophic  plane,  and 
offering  them  nothing  better,  after  nineteen  Christian  centuries, 
than  the  speculations  of  Plato. 

It  was  not  until  I  was  eighteen  years  old  that  I  was  awakened 
to  the  importance  of  personal  religion.  I  cannot  remember  that 
anything  was  ever  said  to  me  in  early  life  about  personal  piety, 
except  by  a  schoolmate  at  Phillips  Academy.  Though  brought 
up  in  a  religious  family,  I  had  led  a  prayerless  life.  I  do  not 
remember  being  taught  any  forms  of  prayer  or  even  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  this  was  owing,  doubtless,  to  the  Congregational 
view  of  conversion  then  generally  held,  which  differs  greatly 
from  the  view  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

In  November,  1830,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bennett  Tyler  preached  a 
sermon  at  the  College  church  on  the  Worth  of  the  Soul,  which 
made  a  deep  impression  on  me.  It  afterwards  was  widely  circu- 
lated as  a  tract,  and  has  lately  been  published  in  his  volume  of 
sermons.  He  said:  "The  soul  derives  infinite  value  from  its 
immortality.  Have  you  thought  on  that  word  eter?iity  ?  Have 
you  weighed  the  solemn  alternative  before  you,  eternal  life  or 
eternal  death  ?  I,et  me  make  a  supposition  that  I  have  heard  or 
read  many  years  ago  :  '  Suppose  this  world  were  to  be  removed 
into  the  regions  of  infinite  space  bj^  a  little  insect — an  insect  so 
small  that  it  could  carry  but  a  particle  at  a  time — and  to  a  dis- 
tance so  great  that  he  could  go  and  return  but  once  in  a  thousand 
years.  How  long  would  it  take  to  remove  this  world  ?  Suppose 
this  work  accomplished,  would  eternity  be  ended  ?  Would  it  be 
diminished  ?  Would  there  not  be  an  eternity  to  ensue  ?  Suppose 
a  thousand  such  worlds  were  removed  in  like  manner,  still  eter- 
nity would  not  be  ended.'  What  profit,  then,  if  you  gain  the 
whole  world  and  lose  your  soul  ?  "  [This  illustration  is  found  in 
a  German  hymn,  translated  by  Miss  Wink  worth  in  Lyra  Ger- 
■ma7nca.']  I  was  not  listening  much  to  the  sermon  until  my  mind  was 
arrested  by  this  comparison,  and  I  realized  in  some  feeble  sense 
the  immortality  of  my  soul.  Eternity  seemed  to  open  before  me. 
I  had  been  thoughtless  and  careless.  This  was  the  great  crisis  in 
my  life.  It  was  as  if  an  arrow  had  pierced  my  heart.  I  was 
suddenly  awakened  to  the  importance  of  its  salvation.  I  do  not, 
however,  regard  this  awakening  as  conversion,  but  as  the  first 
step  towards  it.  Men  must  first  be  awakened  to  the  importance  of 
religion  before  they  are  converted.  God's  Holy  Spirit,  under  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel,  or  by  some  other  means  of  grace,  even 


48  Episcopai,  Church  in  Maink. 

the  casual  word  of  a  friend,  can  flash  conviction  into  the  soul  of 
its  immortality  of  happiness  or  of  misery,  though  He  can  act 
without  these  means. 

This  sermon  led  to  deep  seriousness  on  my  part  for  a  long  time, 
and  no  doubt  to  my  conversion  and  to  a  new  life.  I  did  not  join 
the  Congregational  Church  for  some  time.  I  knew  nothing  then 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  There  were,  I  believe,  in  1830,  but  two 
Episcopal  churches  in  the  State  of  Maine — one  at  Gardiner  and 
one  at  Portland.  About  this  period  both  of  them  were  without 
a  rector.  I  had  heard  more  in  my  childhood  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  than  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  There  was  a  Bishop 
Cheverus,  the  first  Bishop  of  Boston,  who  formed  some  Roman 
Catholic  churches  in  New  England,  and  made  a  great  impression. 
He  afterwards  returned  to  France,  being  recalled  by  Louis 
XVIII,  and  became  a  Cardinal. 

In  my  visits  to  my  brother  George  at  Saco,  Maine,  I  attended 
the  Episcopal  church  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  I  gradually 
grew  to  love  its  Liturgy  and  its  ways,  and  was  confirmed.  It  was 
not  so  much  that  it  was  the  most  apostolic  Church  on  earth  in  its 
three  orders  of  ministry,  of  whose  importance  I  stand  in  no  doubt, 
but  it  was  its  Liturgy  and  its  ways  that  drew  me  into  the  Episco- 
pal Church.  Hence,  when  I  went  to  Andover  I  was  known  as 
being  inclined  that  way,  and  I  formed  one  of  those  feeble  folk  who 
met  in  an  upper  room  and  established  the  first  Episcopal  church 
in  Andover,  of  which  my  brother  was  afterwards  the  rector. 

The  theory  of  the  religious  life  and  experience  of  the  young 
is  different  in  the  Congregational  Church  from  that  in  the  Epis- 
copal Church.  In  the  former  young  persons  were  not  expected 
to  become  pious  until  eighteen  or  twenty  years  of  age.  They 
waited  for  conversion  or  confession  of  Christ  until  some  general 
awakening  took  place  in  the  community,  or  until  they  met  with 
some  strange,  almost  miraculous  experience.  The  Rev.  F.  Palmer, 
once  a  Congregationalist,  now  an  Episcopal  minister,  says  in  sub- 
stance that  the  Congregational  view  assumes  that  all  the  moral 
quality  of  the  act  must  lie  in  the  will  of  the  doer.  Their  object- 
ive point  of  prayer  and  eflFort,  then,  is  to  get  men  across  this 
sharply  dividing  line  of  "  I  will."  Before  crossing  that  they  are 
lost;  after  crossing  that  they  are  saved.  The  objective  point  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  is  the  bringing  of  men  in  all  their  parts, 
and  the  will  is  one  of  the  most  important,  into  harmony  with  God. 
Congregationalism   tends    to   substitute   the  consciousness  of  a 


Congregationalism.  49 

spiritual  process  for  the  process  itself.  It  aims  to  bring  men  to  a 
conscious  spiritual  crisis,  which  it  so  identifies  with  spiritual  life 
that  it  cannot  conceive  of  one  without  the  other.  Its  children 
must  experience  a  change  before  they  can  join  the  Church.  They 
search  for  and  try  to  produce  this  in  themselves.  In  order  to  pro- 
duce something  they  lay  hold  of  any  strange  emotions  which  they 
may  find  and  call  them  a  change,  and  when  the  emotions  fade,  as 
they  will  do,  the  change  is  often  gone.  Many  others,  having  no 
such  conscious  new  state,  which  usually  comes  later  in  the  expe- 
rience of  the  Christian,  stay  outside  of  the  Church  or  become  op- 
posers  of  religion.  Too  much  stress  was  laid  upon  fully  under- 
standing an  elaborate  confession,  and  many  tender  souls  suffered 
without  the  fold,  which  should  early  receive  them. 

This  is  the  method  of  conquest,  the  change  of  the  "  natural  " 
man,  and  lays  stress  on  the  emotions  which  accompany  conver- 
sions more  than  on  the  fact  itself.  It  treats  the  children  of  Chris- 
tian parents,  and  men  and  women  living  under  the  influence  of 
Christian  principles,  as  if  they  were  heathen  or  the  vilest  sinners, 
and  tries  to  bring  them  to  the  revival  bench  or  altar,  feeling  as  a 
heathen  or  a  criminal  would  feel  in  regard  to  their  salvation. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Episcopal  Church  looks  on  conversion 
as  a  turning  point  in  a  method  oi growth,  not  of  conqicest.  By  the 
Sacrament  of  Holy  Baptism  for  Infants  it  gives  the  child  the  spiritual 
status  of  the  parents,  just  as  it  has  their  status  in  social  position, 
politics,  and  manners.  The  parents  being  Christians — in  reality, 
not  merely  in  name — then  the  child  will  be  a  little  member  of 
Christ,  actually,  as  the  Office  of  Holy  Baptism  declares.  To 
complete  the  spiritual  Ufe,  the  child  is  to  add  the  element  of 
individual  choice,  and  confirm  by  his  own  act  the  process  that  has 
beengoing  on  in  him  from  his  birth.  Conversion  is  the  actual, 
open  acknowledgment  of  the  child  or  grown  person  that  God  is 
his  father,  and  Christ  his  Saviour  and  King,  and  that  he  is 
henceforth  determined  to  try  to  live  and  act  as  a  child  of  God. 

Children  under  this  view  are  to  be  trained  up  in  the  ways  of 
the  Church,  as  members  of  the  Church,  so  far  as  they  can  be, 
through  God's  grace  and  love,  and  only  needing  their  own  act  of 
choice  and  resolve  to  complete  the  relationship,  God  having  most 
surely  and  fully  fulfilled  His  part  of  the  covenant.  Holy  Baptism 
is  a  covenant  in  which  God  has  actually  done  His  part,  and  not 
a  mere  pious  ceremony,  as  most  of  the  denominations  regard  it. 

The  observance  of  the  great  Church  festivals  are  most  helpful 


50  Church  Festivals. 

in  this  training,  since  they  arouse  and  cultivate  a  class  of  senti- 
ments and  feelings  which  the  ordinary  exercises  of  the  sanctuary 
leave  dormant.  On  this  point,  Henry  B.  Smith,  the  prominent 
Presbyterian,  says  in  his  essay  on  Christian  Union,  &c.,  in  Faith 
and  Philosophy,  that  re-union  would  be  greatly  aided  if  the 
diflferent  Churches  would  "  unite  in  some  stated  religious  observ- 
ances, commemorative  of  the  great  historic  facts  of  the  Christian 
faith  in  which  they  all  agree  and  which  cannot  be  appropriated 
by  any  one  branch  of  the  Church,  such  as  the  birth,  the  death, 
and  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord,  and  the  giving  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  For  these  festivals  antedate  not  only  our  divisions,  but 
also  the  corruptions  of  the  Papacy  ;  they  exalt  the  Lord  and  not 
man  ;  they  involve  a  public  and  solemn  recognition  of  essential 
Christian  facts,  and  are  thus  a  standing  protest  against  infidelity 
and  connect  us  with  the  whole  Christian  history." 

The  life  of  childhood  is,  by  the  Episcopal  Church,  thus  early 
associated  with  the  life  of  Christ,  and  thus  the  child  is  led  on 
gradually  and  insensible  to  the  love  and  service  of  his  Saviour, 
not,  however,  without  the  grace  of  God  acting  on  him  and  renew- 
ing him.  Says  Rev.  Dr.  Austin  Phelps,  an  eminent  Congrega- 
tionalist : 

"  If  I  had  been  trained  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  I  should  at 
the  age  of  twelve  years  have  been  confirmed  and  have  entered  on 
a  consciously  religious  life,  and  grown  up  into  Christian  living  of 
the  Episcopalian  type.  It  was  to  me  a  sad  misfortune  that  my 
Presbyterian  culture  had  not,  in  addition  to  its  high  spiritual  ideal 
of  regenerate  character,  something  of  the  Episcopalian  ideal  of 
Christian  growth.  The  natural  ascent  to  God  for  a  Christian 
child  is  the  Christian  home,  the  family  altar,  the  social  amenities 
of  life  suffused  by  the  love  of  God  and  man." 

It  was  a  favorite  remark  of  the  pious  Philip  Doddridge,  in  con- 
firmation of  this,  that  if  parents  did  their  full  duty,  conversion  to 
God  in  adult  age  would  be  a  rare  thing. 

The  rite  of  Confirmation,  too,  has  a  most  important  influence 
in  awakening  children  to  a  consciousness  of  their  duty.  When 
Dr.  Charles  Hodge  was  in  Germany  he  was  very  much  struck 
with  the  strict  observance  of  this  rite  by  the  Superintendents  of 
the  Lutheran  churches,  for  in  Germany  every  child  is  baptized 
and  confirmed,  and  he  thought  it  edifying  and  wished  it  could  be 
observed  in  his  own  Church. 


BuRiAi,  Customs.  51 

The  duty  of  submission  to  the  sovereignty  of  God  was  in  the 
theology  of  New  England  made  very  prominent,  and  the  work  of 
Christ  in  our  salvation  was  by  it  overshadowed.  Instead  of  pre- 
senting Christ  as  a  Saviour,  and  as  willing  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most all  who  come  unto  God  through  Him,  a  law-work  was  con- 
sidered necessary— that  is,  deep  conviction  of  one's  sinfulness, 
followed  by  some  sudden  and  revolutionary  change  of  heart ;  so 
that  men  looked  to  themselves  too  much  instead  of  to  Christ.  I 
have  thought  it  would  be  helpful  to  speak  of  these  two  different 
views  of  the  Christian  life  and  conversion,  as  realized  by  me. 

I  might  here  add  a  word  as  to  burial  customs.  Hearses  were 
not  known  at  that  time,  and  the  body  was  carried  on  a  bier  by 
bearers.  The  head  of  the  family  would  at  the  grave  thank  those 
who  attended  the  burial  for  their  sympathy  and  presence. 

President  Allen,  of  Bowdoin,  had  a  lovely  wife,  the  daughter  ot 
President  Wheelock,  of  Dartmouth.  When  she  was  buried  he 
made  a  very  touching  address  at  the  grave,  speaking  of  her  to  the 
friends  who  attended.  Professor  Newman  preached  a  sermon  in 
the  house  at  my  mother's  burial  on  the  text,  "  Let  me  go,  for  the 
day  breaketh,"  and  gave  out  a  hymn,  "  Hear  what  the  voice  from 
heaven  declares." 

Only  a  few  years  ago  I  was  pleasantly  impressed  at  seeing  Gen. 
Custis  Lee  and  Capt.  R.  E.  Lee  at  the  burial  of  their  brother, 
Gen.  W.  H.  F.  Lee,  go  around  and  speak  to  his  old  friends  and 
companions  in  arms. 

In  the  year  1830,  I  employed  my  three  months  vacation  in  the 
winter,  teaching  a  school  of  forty  boys  and  girls,  some  of  whom 
were  grown.  I  boarded  around  and  was  kept  very  busy,  often 
sitting  up  till  eleven  o'clock,  correcting  exercises,  setting  copies 
and  mending  the  quill  pens.  I  never  worked  harder  and  my 
only  comfort  was  spending  Saturday  and  Sunday  at  my  brother 
Charles'  home  in  Brunswick,  Maine.  His  widow,  in  her  ninety- 
fifth  year,  still  lives  there,  in  a  serene  and  beautiful  old  age. 
Two  of  her  sons.  Revs.  Edward  and  George  T.,  are  ministers,  and 
her  oldest  son.  Dr.  Charles  W.  Packard,  is  an  eminent  physician 
in  New  York,  at  whose  house  I  spent  many  happy  days,  when 
attending  the  meetings  of  the  Revision  Committee. 

After  gradu.ting  in  1831,  I  went  to  Walpole  to  be  associate 
with  Charles  H.  Allen,  of  Harvard,  in  a  new  academy  just  erected. 

This  was  a  most  beautiful  town  on  the  high  banks  of  the  Con- 
necticut in  a  very  refined  and  wealthy  community.     We  had  boys 


52  WAI.POI.E  AND  BrATTLEBORO. 

and  girls  and  there  I  taught  W.  D.  Wilson,  whose  long  and  use- 
ful life  has  been  a  blessing  to  the  Church.  I  recall  his  eagerness 
to  learn  and  his  standing  up  to  recite  his  Latin  lesson.  I  had  a 
class  of  ambitious  girls,  most  eager  to  learn  and  to  outvie  each 
other  in  Latin  and  other  studies.  We  had  an  orrery  which 
excited  deep  interest.  The  school  was  an  admirable  one  but  not 
a  financial  success.  I  boarded  with  a  Mrs.  Robeson,  whose 
brother  was  a  retired  merchant  from  Montreal.  She  was  a  fine 
character  and  they  lived  very  well. 

In  1832,  a  vacancy  occured  in  Brattleboro  Academy,  Vermont, 
and  I  was  invited  to  take  charge,  which  I  did,  and  with  some 
small  assistance  carried  on  the  school  for  a  year.  I  introduced 
prayers  and  reading  the  Bible  in  the  school.  While  I  was  there  a 
revival  took  place  and  I  then  made  a  profession  of  religion  in  the 
Congregational  Church,  on  account  of  which  the  Unitarians,  who 
were  very  bitter  against  the  Orthodox,  as  they  were  called,  with- 
drew their  scholars  and  looked  askance  at  me. 

In  the  Congregational  Church  on  profession  of  faith,  all  who 
joined  came  out  in  the  aisle,  having  given  their  experience  previ- 
ously to  the  Committee,  and  were  addressed  by  the  pastor,  Mr. 
McGee,  and  asked  questions,  "  Do  you  solemnly  promise,  etc.  ?  " 

From  my  father's  home  at  Middlesex,  at  the  junction  of  the 
canal  from  Boston  and  the  Merriraac  River,  I  made  my  first  trip 
to  Boston,  on  the  canal.  Bricks  were  just  then  coming  into  use 
for  sidewalks  ;  previously  they  had  been  laid  with  flat  slabs  of 
slate  or  shale,  put  down  in  any  shape  they  happened  to  take  in 
splitting. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
ANDOVER  AND  MOSES  STUART. 

I  HAD  always,  as  far  as  I  can  remember,  thought  of  being  a  min- 
ister ;  so,  after  teaching  for  awhile  as  principal  of  an  academy, 
I  entered  Andover  Seminary.  Andover  Seminary,  founded  in 
1808,  was  the  first  theological  seminary  of  any  note  founded  in 
this  or  any  other  country,  and  it  began  the  new  system  of  prepara- 
tion for  th-  ministry.  Before  that  date  it  was  supposed  that  a 
college  graduate  was  acquainted  with  theology  as  with  any  other 
branch  of  learning.  A  term  of  twelve  months,  or  six,  and  often 
only  three,  was  spent  with  a  pastor  in  reading  a  few  books  and  in 
writing  a  few  essays  and  sermons,  and  this  was  deemed  sufficient 
preparation  for  the  ministry.  Here  first  was  realized  the  idea  of 
gathering  students  within  college  walls  for  three  years  for  the  study 
of  Divinity  in  the  departments  of  Doctrinal  Theology,  Biblical 
Study  and  Sacred  Rhetoric,  with  every  possible  advantage  for 
mutual  incitement  and  mutual  helpfulness. 

Theological  seminaries  have  greatly  multiplied  since  that  day 
in  this  and  every  country,  but  they  have  been  modelled  on  this, 
and  difier  but  little.  The  founding  of  this  seminary,  as  it  provided 
new  means  and  advantages,  created  a  demand  for  a  higher  and 
wider  range  of  theological  learning  in  all  the  churches.  At  the 
time  I  entered,  it  was  in  its  third  decade— the  period  of  its  largest 
numbers,  certainly  during  its  first  sixty  years— and  it  drew  large 
classes  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  one  of  which  had  seventy- 
nine  members.  All  denominations  went  there,  even  Baptists, 
like  Dr.  Wayland,  and  Dr.  Smith,  author  of  "  My  Country,  'tis 
of  Thee."  There  have  been  some  changes  since  that  time  in  the 
number  of  professors  in  seminaries.  Several  new  branches  have 
been  introduced,  and  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  have  been 
given  to  separate  chairs.  There  were  four  professors  and  one 
assistant  there  when  I  entered. 

Andover,  though  a  small  town,  had  been  the  home  of  many 
eminent  men  during  their  studies.  It  was  twenty  miles  from 
Boston,  and  was  like  this  Seminary  of  ours,  "  a  city  set  on  a  hill." 
Its  view  was  much  admired,  and  one  could  see  the  distant 
mountains  in  Massachusetts.     The  sunrise  and  sunset  were  very 

53 


54  Andover  Seminary. 

beautiful  there.  I  was  there  during  the  meteoric  shower,  on 
November  ii,  1833.  I  waked  up  one  morning  early,  thinking  the 
chimney  was  on  fire.  I  looked  out  of  the  window  and  saw  the 
whole  sky  filled  with  stones  or  flakes  of  fire  as  large  as  the 
hand.  It  caused  great  fright  to  the  horses  in  the  stages,  and 
many  people  thought  the  judgment-day  had  come. 

The  class  to  which  I  belonged  was  never  a  famous  one.    I  knew 

there  Munson,  who  was  eaten  bj^  cannibals  afterwards. 

He  was  a  serious,  grave  man,  and  once  he  found  a  novel  of  Scott, 
which  he  read  all  night,  never  having  read  one  before,  and  being 
perfectly  carried  away  by  it.  He  and  Lyman  were  students 
together,  and  as  missionaries  they  went  on  an  exploring  expedition 
together  into  Sumatra.  They  were  advised  to  take  guns  with 
them  into  the  interior,  and,  coming  to  a  mud  fort  in  Qualebattoo, 
they  were  attacked  by  the  natives,  who  thought  them  enemies, 
were  speared  and  eaten.  The  United  States  Government  sent  a 
vessel  there  to  punish  the  natives  and  burned  their  villages. 

Andover  Seminary  sent  out  in  its  first  fifty  years  one  hundred 
and  thirty-four  foreign  missionaries,  many  of  whom  were  eminent 
as  explorers,  translators  and  preachers,  and  as  founders  of  great 
missionary  enterprises.  Three  hundred  went  out  as  home  mis- 
sionaries to  the  West  and  to  the  Indians.  Two  hundred  were 
professors  in  colleges  and  seminaries,  twenty-six  have  been  presi- 
dents of  colleges,  and  the  same  number  have  been  editors. 

Our  professors  were  able  men.  Leonard  Woods,  D.  D.,  was 
considered  an  able  theologian,  of  remarkable  acumen.  He  was 
rather  a  heavy  man,  as  I  remember,  and  he  read  his  lectures  in 
the  afternoon  from  a  manuscript  yellow  with  age,  and  they  had 
rather  a  soporific  effect.  They  were  afterwards  published  precisely 
as  read. 

Our  evening  prayers  were  conducted  by  one  of  the  professors, 
and  I  can  now  see  before  me  Dr.  Woods'  tall  form  and  hear  him 
read  the  hymn — 

"  Thou  art  the  sea  of  love 

Where  all  my  pleasures  roll, 
The  circle  where  my  passions  move 
And  centre  of  my  soul." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Skinner,  Professor  of  Sacred  Rhetoric,  was  a  very 
courteous  man,  and  he  introduced  a  new  style  of  intercourse  with 
the  students.     There  had  been  a  great  want  of  courtesy  between 


Andover  Professors.  55 

professors  and  students,  but  with  Dr.  Skinner  began  a  newr%ime, 
as  he  always  touched  his  hat  to  the  students  and  was  very  polite. 
He  was  thought  a  very  strong  preacher,  and  his  sermons  were 
much  admired. 

Professor  Emerson  was  a  dry,  formal  man,  who  did  not  add 
much  to  the  strength  of  the  Faculty  and  he  soon  retired  to  a  more 
suitable  sphere.  He  used  the  word  "touching  "  as  a  preposition. 
Once  a  student  rapped  for  silence  at  "Commons"  and  said: 
"Touching  Professor  Emerson's  lecture  to-day  there  will  be 
none,"  and  all  enjoyed  the  joke. 

Prof.  Moses  Stuart,  professor  of  Biblical  lyiterature,  exerted  a 
greater  influence  upon  my  life  and  character  than  any  other  man 
I  have  ever  known.     I  have  elsewhere  testified  to  what  I  owe  to 
him  and  to  my  sense  of  his  greatness  as  a  man  and  teacher,  but  I 
may  be  permitted  here  to  repeat  some  things  and  to  add  other 
things  about  him,  which  impressed  us  then  and  are  of  lasting 
value  in  his  character  and  work.     I  avail  myself  of  the  words  of 
others  about  him,  though,  strange  to  say,  no  life  of  him  has  ever 
been  written.     It  was  a  great  day  for  all  theological  learning  in 
this  country  when  Moses  Stuart  was  dismissed  from  his  charge  in 
New  Haven  to  fill  the  chair  of  Biblical  I^earningat  Andover.    He 
had  then,  at  thirty  years  of  age,  a  reputation   as  an  eloquent 
preacher  and  successful  minister.     President  Dwight  said  :   "  We 
cannot  spare  him."     Dr.  Spring  replied  :   "  We  want  no  man  who 
can  be  spared."     He  came  to  Andover  with  no  wealth  of  learn- 
ing, no  fame  for  scholarship,  and  but  a  scanty  knowledge  of  Greek 
or  Hebrew.     He  said  himself  that  he  knew  little  more  than  the 
Hebrew  alphabet,  and  the  power  to  make  out  after  a  poor  fashion 
the  bare  translation  of  five  or  six  chapters  of  Genesis  by  the  aid  of 
the  Lexicon.     He  never  had  the  aid  of  any  teacher  in  his  Biblical 
studies,  for  at  that  time  there  was  scarcely  a  man  in  this  country 
who  had  such  a  knowledge  of  Hebrew  as  was  requisite  to  be  a 
teacher.     He  had  to  blaze  his  way,  as  it  were,  through  an  un- 
known country,  to  mark  out  the  road,  level  the  forest,  establish 
the  grade,  and  lay  the  rails  on  which  we  now  travel  so  easily. 
Ivike  the  great  leader  of  Israel,  for  whom  he  was  named,  Moses 
Stuart  led  us  through  the  wilderness,  and  from  the  mount  of  vision 
showed  us  the  goodly  land  which  we  now  enjoy. 

About  two  years  after  coming  to  Andover  he  prepared  a  Hebrew 
■Grammar  without  points  which  the  students  were  obliged  to  copy 


56  Moses  Stuart. 

day  by  day  from  his  written  sheets.  Hebrew  types  were  not 
known  by  compositors,  and  he  had  to  teach  the  printers  their  art 
and  set  up  the  types  for  half  the  paradigms  of  verbs  with  his  own 
hands.  Five  editions  of  this  grammar  were  published  here,  and 
the  fourth  edition  was  republished  in  England  by  Dr.  Pusey, 
Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  University  of  Oxford.  At  a 
time  when  the  question  was  contemptuously  asked,  "  Who  reads 
an  American  book?  "  and  when  hardly  an  American  author  had 
a  work  republished  in  Europe,  a  self-taught  professor  in  a  theologi- 
cal seminary  in  a  rural  district  of  New  England  furnished  a  He- 
brew grammar  and  reader  to  an  English  university.  Professor  Eee, 
of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England,  also  admired  him  and 
his  work  most  highly. 

Professor  Stuart  was  a  pioneer  also  in  the  introduction  of  Ger- 
man theological  literature  into  our  country.  In  consulting 
Schlensner's  Lexicon  he  was  troubled  by  the  German  terms 
therein  used,  which  no  one  could  explain  to  him.  His  curiosity 
was  thoroughly  aroused,  and  at  great  expense  he  obtained  the 
apparatus  for  German  study,  and  in  a  fortnight  had  read  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John  in  German.  A  friend  gave  him  Seiler's  Bibli- 
cal Hermeneutics.  He  writes  :  "  Before  I  obtained  Seller  I  did 
not  know  enough  to  believe  that  I  yet  knew  nothing  in  sacred 
criticism."  He  often  said  that  he  did  not  really  begin  the  critical 
study  of  the  Bible  until  he  was  forty  years  old.  From  these  bold 
forays  into  the  Biblical  learning  of  the  German  universities  he 
returned  laden  with  rich  spoils.  Others  have  gone  further  than 
he  in  German  studies,  and  have  penetrated  more  deeply  the 
cloudy  mysteries  of  the  Teutonic  philosophy  and  its  relations,  but 
it  was  his  thorough  grasp  of  those  principles  and  his  teaching  and 
his  influence  that  made  Andover  famous  as  a  seat  of  learning,  and 
that  led  its  students  into  wider  fields  of  theological  enquiry. 
Many  good  men  of  that  day  feared  as  to  the  results  of  his  German 
studies  and  lamented  his  waste  of  time  on  such  ill-judged  pur- 
suits. The  value  of  these  researches,  however,  was  soon  to 
appear. 

Unitarianism  was  then  a  dominant  influence  in  Massachusetts. 
Dr.  Channing,  at  the  ordination  of  Rev.  Jared  Sparks,  in  Balti- 
more, preached  a  sermon,  in  which  he  advocated  Unitarian  opin- 
ions and  attacked  orthodox  Christianity.  In  his  Eetters  to  Dr. 
Channing  on  Unitarianism,  Stuart  treated  in  a  strict  exegetical, 
grammatical  manner  all  the  texts  in   dispute  between  the  Unita- 


Unitarian  Controversy.  57 

rians  and  Trinitarians,  and  fortified  his  views  by  quotations  as  to 
the  interpretation  from  the  ablest  German  scholars.  He  appealed 
to  the  Word  of  God  alone  to  establish  his  positions,  and  applied 
the  principles  of  interpretation  learned  from  his  German  studies 
with  most  convincing  power.  He  closed  the  letters  thus  :  ' '  When 
I  behold  the  glory  of  the  Saviour,  as  revealed  in  the  gospel,  I  am 
constrained  to  cry  out,  with  the  believing  Apostle,  '  My  Lord  and 
my  God  !  '  And  when  my  departing  spirit  shall  quit  these  mortal 
scenes,  and  wing  its  way  to  the  world  unknown,  with  my  latest 
breath  I  desire  to  pray,  as  the  expiring  martyr  did,  '  Lord  Jesus, 
receive  my  spirit.'  "  The  first  edition  of  this  book  was  exhausted 
in  a  week,  and  five  other  editions  rapidly  followed.  Four  or  five 
editions  were  soon  printed  in  England,  with  the  highest  commen- 
dations by  Dr.  John  Pye  Smith,  Dr.  Chalmers  and  others.  An 
eminent  theologian,  on  reading  it,  said  to  him,  "You  have  filled 
a  void  in  my  mind  which  has  existed  for  ten  years."  One  of  his 
colleagues  said  to  him  "  You  could  not  have  written  that  volume 
without  your  German  aids." 

The  book  is  a  model  of  Christian  controversy,  and  the  whole 
Church  owes  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  his  defence  of  the  faith, 
which  is  superior  to  that  masterly  one  of  Dr.  Wardlaw,  of  Glas- 
gow. Unitarianism  had  been  before  attacked  by  theological  argu- 
ments, but  now,  for  the  first  time,  there  was  a  rigid  exegesis  of 
every  text  in  the  New  Testament  which  bore  upon  the  divinity 
of  our  Lord.  This  exegesis,  as  we  have  said,  was  immensely 
strengthened  by  quotations  from  German  commentators,  who 
cared  little  for  the  doctrine  involved  but  treated  the  text  imparti- 
ally. In  the  Life  of  John  Duncan,  of  Scotland,  there  is  a  striking 
account  of  tlie  effect  produced  on  David  Brown  by  these  letters, 
and  their  effect  upon  the  Christian  world  will  never  be  told. 
These  letters  made  a  powerful  impression  at  home  and  abroad, 
and  placed  him  at  the  head  of  all  biblical  expositors.  They  dis- 
played his  vast  reading  of  authors  almost  unknown  in  America, 
his  keen,  cri;ical  acumen,  his  power  and  completeness  in  meeting 
the  objection  to  his  construction  of  the  controverted  passages  of 
Scripture,  and  the  accuracy  and  reliability  of  the  proof  on  which 
he  founded  his  belief  of  the  Deity  of  Christ.  This  was  proved  by 
the  very  slight  modifications  of  his  argument  that  had  to  be  made 
after  passing  through  the  severe  ordeal  of  opposing  criticism  for 
several  editions. 


58  Stuart's  Commkntaries. 

Professor  Stuart's  precept  and  example  reacted  powerfully  upon 
the  classical  instruction  of  every  college  of  New  England,  and 
raised  the  standard,  which  was  then  at  a  low  point.  When  a 
tutor  or  professor  was  needed  in  a  college,  but  one  course  was 
suggested,  "  Send  for  a  man  from  Andover." 

His  contributions  to  sacred  literature  would  almost  make  a 
library  in  themselves,  and  he  wrote,  besides,  on  a  great  variety  of 
subjects  in  the  Reviews.  Eighty-one  articles  of  his  may  be  men- 
tioned. He  wrote  twenty  volumes  of  books  and  fourteen  pamph- 
lets, commentaries  on  Romans,  Hebrews,  Apocalypse,  Daniel, 
Ecclesiastes  and  Proverbs.  In  his  sixty-seventh  year  he  read  all 
the  tragedies  of  ^schylus  for  the  sake  of  delecting  idioms  and 
allusions  explanatory  of  the  Bible.  On  his  seventy-second  birth- 
day he  began  his  Exposition  of  the  Proverbs,  and  in  four  months 
it  was  ready  for  the  press,  and  its  last  proof-sheets  were  corrected 
and  sent  oflf  two  days  before  he  died.  I  have  always  valued 
Stuart's  commentaries  as  containing  prificiples  as  well  as  opinions. 

All  this  work  was  done  in  spite  of  ill-health  and  weakness, 
so  great  that  he  was  allowed  only  three  hours  a  day  for  study. 
He  would  begin  with  secret  or  audible  prayer,  often  chanting  a 
Psalm  in  Hebrew,  and  would  suffer  no  interruption.  He  was 
asked  to  officiate  at  the  marriage  of  his  ward,  who  lived  in  his 
house,  and  consented  to  do  so  if  the  ceremony  should  take  place 
after  half-past  eleven  in  the  forenoon.  Being  urged  to  perform  it 
at  an  earlier  hour,  he  refused  to  give  up  his  study-hour  and 
another  minister  was  called  in. 

As  a  preacher  he  was  most  eloquent  and  effective,  and  learned 
and  unlearned  heard  him  gladly.  His  personal  appearance  was 
striking.  He  was  of  a  large,  loosely-hung  frame,  like  Henry  Clay, 
of  wiiom  he  reminded  me.  His  manner,  commanding  and 
impassioned,  gave  to  his  words  a  power  which  they  lost  on  the 
printed  page.  His  voice  was  deep,  sonorous,  solemn,  like  what 
I  imagine  that  of  a  prophet  might  be,  a  voice  which  more  than  any 
other  I  can  remember  seemed  to  open  a  way  from  the  heart  of  the 
speaker  to  that  of  the  hearer.  We  counted  it  a  great  privilege 
when  he  preached  in  his  turn  in  the  chapel.  He  thought  that 
exegetical  studies  unfitted  him  for  preaching,  so  he  desired  that 
all  his  preaching  should  come  at  one  time,  when  his  warmth  and 
earnestness  could  be  kept  up.  Prof.  Kingsley  of  Yale,  himself  a 
good  judge,  said  he  was  the  most  eloquent  man  he  had  ever  heard. 
Moses  Stuart  would  have  been  eminent  in  any  calling,  and  would 


Stuart  as  Preacher.  59 

have  left  his  impress  for  good,  so  high,  great  and  noble  were  his 
aims. 

Dr.  W.  W.  Taylor  once  said  that  the  best  sermons  were  simple 
and  vivid  presentations  of  saving  truth,  that  go  straightest  and 
deepest  into  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men,  and  that  Moses 
Stuart  was  the  most  powerful  preacher,  according  to  this  standard, 
that  he  had  ever  known.  He  preached  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 
One  of  his  sermons  on  the  Atonement  closed  thus  :  "I  ask  for  no 
other  privilege  on  earth  but  to  make  known  the  efficacy  of  His 
death  ;  and  none  in  heaven  but  to  associate  with  those  who  ascribe 
•salvation  to  His  blood.     Amen." 

His  public  prayers  were  fervid,  scriptural,  and  delightful  to  the 
Christian  heart.  Once  he  prayed,  "  May  we  seek  the  city  which 
hath  the  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.  May  we 
be  pilgrims  and  sojourners  here  on  earth  ;  and  as  we  pass  through 
this  vale  of  tears,  this  shadow  of  death,  feed  us  with  bread  from 
heaven,  and  give  us  the  water  of  life,  and  when  we  come  to  the 
Jordan  of  death,  may  the  waves  divide  on  either  side  and  give  us 
a  passage  to  the  heavenly  Canaan." 

He  delighted  in  the  Wednesday  evening  conference  of  profes- 
sors and  students,  very  much  like  our  faculty  meetings  on  Thurs- 
day evenings.  Here  the  great  principles  of  practical  and 
experimental  religion,  and  all  matters  of  religious  experience, 
duty  and  comfort  were  fully  treated  ;  the  work  of  the  Saviour 
and  the  Spirit  was  glorified,  and  counsel  and  aid  were  given  to  the 
students  as  to  their  peculiar  duties  and  dangers.  Professor  Stuart 
said  :  "  If  there  is  any  part  of  my  duty  which  I  can  remember 
with  pleasure  on  a  dying  bed,  it  is  what  I  did  in  the  Wednesday 
Conference." 

He  always  added  short  exegetical  remarks  when  he  had  prayers. 
He  was  a  man  of  deep  sensibility,  and  I  have  seen  him  with  tears 
in  his  eyes  when  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper  and  when  parting 
with  the  Senior  Class.  He  was  genial  and  pleasant ;  I  often 
walked  with  him,  and  asked  his  opinions  of  persons  and  books, 
and  he  was  always  ready  to  answer.  I  asked  him  once  about 
Hengstenberg's  view  that  the  Millennium  had  already  passed, 
between  the  fifth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  He  said,  "  If  so,  it  was 
a  millennium  of  the  devil."  I  remember  asking  him  what  he 
thought  of  Adam  Clarke's  Commentaries.  He  answered,  "They 
are  a  farrago  of  pedantry."  He  was  so  delicate  that  he  spent  the 
time,  except  the  three  hours  which  he  devoted  to  study,  in  trying 


6o  Stuart  as  Teacher. 

to  strengthen  himself  for  his  work,  often  sawing  wood  or  walk- 
ing for  exercise  ;  the  students  would  usually  walk  with  him. 

Professor  Stuart  was  liberal  to  all  Christians,  and  specially  kind 
to  those  of  a  diflFering  denomination.  I  was  inclined  to  the 
Episcopal  Church  when  I  went  there,  and  was  one  of  the  few  who 
used  to  meet  in  an  upper  room  for  Episcopal  services,  in  which 
Rev.  Dr.  Stone,  from  Boston,  ministered.  I  remember  the  text 
of  one  of  his  sermons,  "  He  that  sinneth  against  me,  wrongeth  his 
own  soul."  Stone  had  a  rich,  fertile  mind,  and  could  make  the  com- 
monest subject  interesting. 

Some  Episcopalians  went  to  Andover.  Among  them  Reuel 
Keith,  the  first  professor  here,  Bishop  Horatio  Southgate,  Charles 
H.  Hall,  of  Brooklyn,  George  Leeds,  of  Baltimore,  Daniel  R. 
Goodwin,  of  the  Philadelphia  Divinity  School,  Charles  Mason,  of 
Boston,  and  C.  B.  Dana  were  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time  at 
Andover  Seminary. 

As  a  teacher  he  must  be  placed  high  among  the  first  class.  He 
had  three  distinguishing  elements  of  a  great  teacher — intellec- 
tual power,  positiveness  and  enthusiasm.  He  had  not  merely  a 
great  memory  and  power  of  acquisition,  like  Macaulay,  but  real 
intellectual  power  of  the  first  quality.  This  was  shown  by  his 
originality  in  the  best  sense,  and  his  power  of  grasping  and 
weighing  all  truth,  which  is  of  such  value  to  learning,  and  which 
alone  makes  a  teacher  truly  effective.  He  marked  out  a  course 
of  his  own  ;  his  plan  of  study,  his  spirit  and  methods  of  investi- 
gation of  the  Scriptures,  were  new  at  that  t-me,  and  he  made  his 
own  text-books. 

The  second  important  element  was  his  positiveness.  Another 
eminent  professor,  it  was  said,  rather  thought  that  two  and  two 
make  four,  although  he  would  not  be  too  confident.  Moses  Stuart 
scarcely  knew  what  it  was  to  rather  doubt  or  rather  believe  any 
proposition  which  he  examined.  He  was  firmly  convmced  of  its 
truth  or  falsity,  or  sure  that  he  could  come  to  no  certain  opinion. 
The  words  "unquestionably,  undoubtedly,"  uttered  with  his 
tone  of  conviction,  still  linger  in  my  ears.  Such  positiveness, 
if  accompanied  with  a  profound  and  reverent  searching  of  God's 
Word,  is  essential  in  a  theological  teacher  or  preacher.  Their 
opinions  and  preaching  should  have  a  bold  and  decided  character, 
and  not  leave  the  hearers  in  a  sea  of  uncertainty.  Some  teachers 
shrink  from  decisive  opinions.  In  explaining  Scripture  or  doc- 
trine which  admits  of  more  than  one  construction,  they  so  evenly 


His  Positiveness  and  Enthusiasm.  6i 

adjust  the  argument  that  the  theological  balances  are  in  perpetual 
equipoise.  Thei  r  belief  is  so  mixed  with  doubt,  and  their  doubt 
so  qualified  with  belief,  that  it  is  hard  to  say  which  preponderates 
and  it  amounts  to  pretty  much  the  same  whether  they  believe  or 
doubt.  Not  so  with  Professor  Stuart  ;  he  spoke  with  an  authority 
and  positiveness  which,  combined  with  his  intellectual  power  and 
research,  settled  the  question.  His  words  were  authority  to  his 
students. 

A  third  trait  was  his  enthusiasm  and  earnestness.  He  never 
became  dry  by  reason  of  his  minute  study  of  particles  and  lin- 
guistic details.  Far  from  it ;  he  kept  the  dullest  mind  awake  ; 
he  aroused  the  most  sluggish  nature  by  his  fiery  zeal.  In  the 
ciass-room  the  students  hung  upon  his  words.  After  a  brief  and 
impressive  prayer  he  began  the  lecture,  and  questions,  remarks, 
and  suggestions  flew  off  like  electric  sparks,  so  that  the  utmost 
enthusiasm  was  excited  ;  and  when  the  hour  was  past,  a  whole 
class  hurried  to  pursue  their  studies,  as  if  they  had  just  discov- 
ered what  treasures  of  knowledge  were  opening  before  them,  and 
that  life  was  too  short  to  lose  a  moment  from  their  acquisition. 

Dr.  Wayland  says  of  him  :  "  The  burning  earnestness  of  his 
own  spirit  kindled  to  a  flame  everything  that  came  in  contact 
with  it.  We  saw  the  exultation  which  brightened  his  eye  and  ir- 
radiated his  whole  countenance,  if  by  some  law  of  the  Greek  ar- 
ticle a  saying  of  Jesus  could  be  rendered  more  definite  and  precise, 
and  we  all  shared  in  his  joy.  We  caught  his  spirit  and  felt  that 
life  was  valuable  for  little  else  than  to  explain  to  men  the  teach- 
ings of  the  well-beloved  Son  of  God.  If  any  one  of  us  had 
barely  possessed  the  means  sufficient  to  buy  a  coat  or  to  buy  a  lex- 
icon, I  do  not  believe  that  a  man  of  us  would  for  a  moment  have 
hesitated.  The  old  coat  would  have  been  called  on  for  another 
year's  service,  and  the  student  would  have  gloried  over  his 
Schleusner  as  one  that  findeth  great  spoil.  In  his  class-room  we 
became  acquainted  with  the  learned  and  good  of  the  past  and  the 
present;  we  entered  into  and  shared  their  labors  ;  we  were  co- 
workers with  them  and  with  our  teacher,  who  was  the  medium 
of  intercourse  between  us  and  them." 

Jacob  Abbott  said  that  Stuart  had  waked  up  tnore  minds  than 
any  other  man.  Many  of  his  students  have  said  :  "  I  first  learned 
to  think  under  the  inspiration  of  Moses  Stuart.  He  first  taught 
me  to  use  my  mind."     In  the  class-room  he  would  often  digress 


62  Stuart's  Work, 

from  the  subject  in  hand  and  give  us  valuable  advice  and  sugges- 
tions as  to  the  ministry. 

One  of  his  anecdotes  about  Dr.  Bellamy  is  recalled.  Dr.  Bel- 
lamy often  had  students  for  the  ministry  preparing  under  him. 
One  of  them  returned  after  a  year's  absence,  and  told  him  that  after 
preaching  with  all  his  might  he  had  converted  nobody.  Dr.  Bel- 
lamy said  to  him  :  "  You  know  when  you  are  fishing  for  trout  you 
must  not  let  your  shadow  fall  upon  the  water,  but  silently  throw 
your  hook  from  under  the  rocks  and  trees  ;  while  you  jump  into 
the  water  with  a  six-foot  pole  and  cry  out,  '  Bite,  you  dogs  you, 
bite.'  " 

In  his  last  sickness  he  said:  "I  have  long  since  learned  that 
feelings  in  religious  experience  are  deceptive.  I  look  mainly  to 
my  life  for  my  evidence.  I  think  that  my  first  aim  in  life  has 
been  to  glorify  God,  and  that  I  have  been  ready  to  labor  and  suf- 
fer for  Him." 

Dr.  Stuart  found  great  comfort  in  his  last  hours  in  the  verse 
from  Job  ' '  Wearisome  nights  are  appointed  to  me. ' '  He  loved 
the  Sabbath  day  and  I  think  one  of  the  surest  proofs  that  one  is 
truly  pious  is  that  he  loves  the  lyord's  Day. 

Thus  ended  a  long  and  laborious  life,  spent  in  the  service  of  his 
Master.  He  did  a  work  which  no  other  could  have  accomplished. 
Besides  his  written  publications,  living  scholars  were  his  books, 
and  they,  instead  of  types  in  ink,  have  perpetuated  his  influence. 
He  was  the  inspiring  teacher  of  more  than  fifteen  hundred  minis- 
ters ;  of  more  than  seventy  presidents  or  professors  in  colleges  and 
seminaries ;  of  more  than  one  hundred  missionaries  to  the 
heathen  ;  of  thirty  translators  of  the  Bible  into  foreign  languages  ; 
through  his  students  he  had  preached  the  gospel  in  all  lands  ; 
and  his  memorial  is  more  lasting  than  brass  and  more  precious 
than  marble. 

I  have  felt  that  the  record  of  such  a  model  preacher  and  pro- 
fessor was  due  not  only  to  his  memory  and  work,  but  might  be 
inspiring  to  ministers  and  teachers. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
BRISTOL  COLLEGE. 

SHORTLY  after  leaving  Andover  I  went  to  Bristol  College, 
near  Philadelphia,  and  was  made  Professor  of  Latin,  Hebrew, 
and  some  other  branches.  Bristol  College  was  started  in  1833,  by 
Rev.  Drs.  Bedell,  Tyng,  Milner  of  New  York,  Bishop  Meade  of 
Virginia,  and  others,  as  an  evangelical  college  for  boys  and  young 
men.  It  met  with  great  success  during  its  short  life  of  four  years, 
and  went  under  from  a  want  of  financial  support  at  a  critical 
period. 

Rev.  George  W.  Cole,  an  Episcopal  minister,  was  professor 
there.  I  had  known  him  at  Bowdoin,  and  it  was  through  his 
suggestion  that  I  was  appointed.  It  had  a  staff  of  eight  professors 
and  two  hundred  students  in  its  various  departments.  The  Revs. 
W.  T.  Eeavell  and  J.  A.  Buck  were  in  the  pioneer  class  and  have 
added  to  my  recollections  of  the  college.  The  Sophomore  class 
of  1833  had  six  members — ^J.  A.  Buck,  D.  H.  Buel,  E.  B.  Mc- 
Guire,  W.  T.  Leavell,  T.  A.  Todd,  and  Montgomery  Shaw.  The 
Freshman  class  was  twice  as  large.  The  Academical  Department 
numbered  about  one  hundred,  and  the  Select  School  for  boys  of 
Episcopal  parents  had  about  thirty  pupils  from  ten  to  sixteen 
j^ears  old.  Rev.  Dr.  Chauncy  Colton  was  President  of  the  Col- 
lege, Rev.  C.  J.  Good,  Professor  of  Languages  ;  William  Nelson 
Pendleton,  Professor  of  Mathematics ;  Rev.  James  French,  an 
assistant  professor  ;  Rev.  George  W.  Cole  was  head  of  the  Aca- 
demical Department,  and  Rev.  Chester  Newell  was  head  of  the 
Select  School,  with  James  Hulme,  a  student  for  the  ministry,  as- 
sisting. Rev.  C.  S.  Henry  and  myself  were  added  in  the  second 
year,  1834.  Henry  was  a  versatile,  brilliant  man  and  taught 
philosophy.  Two  of  the  class  were  communicants  and  preparing 
for  the  ministry.  Two  others  joined  the  class  and  graduated  in 
1836,  and  four  of  the  number  received  their  first  communion  there. 
Five  of  the  six  communicants  became  ministers.  There  were 
twenty-five  students  from  Virginia.  I  recall  the  names  of  Bedell, 
Berkeley,  Bulkley,  Bull,  Crampton,  Dobbs,  Fackler,  Fales,  Gibson, 
Gillette,  Halstead,  Halsey,  Heister,  Jackson,  father  of  Bishop  H. 
Melville  Jackson,  Barton  Key,  B.  B.  Minor,  Robert  Nelson,  Noble, 

63 


64  Professor  at  Bristol. 

Noblitt,  John  Page,  Sheets,  Shiras,  John  Augustine  Washington, 
Benjamin  Watson,  long  highly  honored  in  Philadelphia,  and 
G.  T.  Wilmer.  I  recall  that  Rev.  Mr.  Bull  of  Pennsylvania  had 
two  sons  there.  At  one  of  the  celebrations  Dr.  Colton  presided 
and  announced  the  names  of  the  speakers  in  a  very  imposing  way. 
When  young  Bull  was  to  speak,  he  said  in  a  deep  voice,  '' proxi- 
mus  procedat  scilicet  Bull." 

One  winter  the  Delaware  was  frozen  for  three  months  and  all 
the  college  was  much  on  the  river.  I  had  my  rooms  in  Clifton  Hall 
where  many  of  the  boys  were. 

The  steamers  from  Philadelphia  to  Trenton  stopped  at  the  Col- 
lege wharf  to  let  off  passengers  and  visitors  at  commencement. 
I  often  visited  Philadelphia  where  I  stayed  with  my  cousin  Fred- 
erick, or  Princeton  where  several  Andover  friends  were  living. 

The  character  of  Bristol  College  was  in  some  respects  peculiar. 
Whilst  it  aimed  at  high  mental  culture,  it  was  chiefly  designed 
by  its  founders  to  advance  the  moral  and  physical  powers  to  their 
proper  degree  of  improvement.  Every  one  of  the  Faculty  and  of 
the  Board  of  Visitors  was  a  consistent  and  zealous  Christian,  and 
nearly  all  of  them  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  who  looked  upon  the 
students  as  their  special  care,  and  who  exerted  themselves  at  all 
times  to  combine  religious  with  intellectual  training.  The  result 
of  their  faithful  labors  was  that  many  who  had  come  there  with 
all  the  thoughtlessness  of  youth  were  added  to  the  Church  and 
became  most  useful  ministers. 

The  students  had  their  social  prayer-meetings  during  the  week, 
their  monthly  Missionary  Concert  of  Prayer,  and  on  occasion  all 
would  contribute  largely  and  regularly  to  the  different  objects  of 
church-work  far  beyond  the  average  of  more  wealthy  congrega- 
tions. The  students  who  were  candidates  for  the  ministry  had 
an  excellent  influence,  as  salt  to  savor  the  mass,  and  the  mission- 
ary, evangelical  spirit  was  kept  alive  and  ablaze.  I  have  never 
seen  more  devout,  earnest,  faithful  living,  and  I  cannot  forget  the 
beautiful  singing,  such  as  Inspirer  and  hearer  of  prayer ,  at  even- 
ing chapel,  and  the  earnest  and  devout  services. 

The  course  of  instruction  was  thorough ;  the  young  men  the 
finest  I  have  ever  seen  in  college,  and  different  in  many  respects 
from  New  England  men,  younger  and  more  genial.  Most  of  the 
students  were  from  the  South,  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  sons  of 
planters.  One  of  them,  still  living,  told  me  one  year  ago  that  he 
owed  his  conversion  to  my  influence  there. 


Student  L,ife.  65 

One  of  the  most  popular  ministers  at  that  time  was  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Suddards,  and  he  preached  for  us  sometimes.  A  great 
religious  interest  was  aroused  at  Bristol  College  by  a  sad  occur- 
rence. One  of  the  students  was  not  able  to  go  to  church,  but  not 
sick  enough  for  a  nurse.  When  they  returned  from  service  they 
found  him  dead,  kneeling  at  his  bedside,  and  it  made  a  deep  im- 
pression. 

The  students  were  only  allowed  to  go  out  of  the  grounds  two 
together.  There  was  a  regular  system  of  manual  labor  and  all 
were  required  to  engage  in  some  kind  of  work  in  the  shops  or  on 
the  farm  from  three  to  five  in  the  afternoon,  five  days  of  the  week. 
One  day  when  they  were  digging  potatoes,  Chauncy  Colton,  the 
President,  came  out.  They  pelted  him  with  small  potatoes.  He 
drew  himself  up  with  great  dignity  and  said,  "  I  am  President  ". 
Rev.  Wm.  T.  Leavell  wrote  in  his  diary  December  5,  1835  :  "  At 
10  and  II  A.  M.  attended  my  own  recitations  in  Moral  Science 
and  Hebrew,  the  former  under  Prof.  C.  S.  Henry  and  the  latter 
under  Prof.  Joseph  Packard."  He  adds:  "Here  we  find  two 
names  added  to  the  Faculty,  men  fully  equal  to  the  others  in 
qualification  and  devotion  to  their  duties  as  teachers  of  youth. 
Who  chose  such  men  ?  We  answer,  good  evangelical  Church- 
men, such  as  Drs.  Bedell,  Tyng,  Milner  and  J.  S.  Stone  and  others 
like  them  ;  with  colaborers  of  the  laity,  such  as  Cope,  Kinsman, 
and  Mitchell  (Dr.)  of  Philadelphia." 

G.  T.  Bedell,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Ohio,  was  the  youngest  of 
the  first  class,  nicknamed  by  his  class  as  "  Energy  Bedell  ".  His 
mother  doubtless  had  much  to  do  with  his  energetic  life  at  college 
and  in  the  ministry.  Dr.  Tyng  once  called  her  a  remarkable 
woman  and  a  wonderful  worker.  At  least  two  of  the  orations  de- 
livered by  this  class  on  Commencement  Day  were  on  the  subject 
oi Missions,  and  I  think  many  of  the  men  were  willing  and  anxious 
to  be  sent  anywhere  that  Christ  would  call  them  and  His  Church 
would  send  them.  I  first  saw  the  Soiithern  Churchman  in  the 
hands  of  C.  J.  Gibson  in  1834,  its  first  year  I  think.  Gibson  was 
the  young  lady  of  the  college  from  his  sweet  countenance  and 
gentle  manners.  His  complexion  was  beautiful,  fresh  and  ruddy, 
with  a  peculiarly  attractive  expression.  He  was  a  great  favorite, 
and  every  one  loved  him  ;  a  pure  and  beautiful  character,  whose 
work  and  name  will  never  be  forgotten  in  Virginia,  where  his  son 
is  now  Bishop. 


66  CivOsiNG  OP  Bristol  Coi^IvEGE. 

Bristol  College  was  bought  by  its  founders  for  $20,000.  It  was 
a  beautiful  place  between  the  Delaware  and  Neshaminy  rivers, 
containing  300  acres,  with  a  splendid  house,  built  by  a  rich  China 
tea  merchant.  It  was  most  substantially  built,  the  walls  were 
very  thick,  and  the  roof  was  covered  with  copper.  One  room  was 
a  cube  of  twenty  feet  and  was  used  as  a  chapel. 

Bristol  College  did  not  come  into  friendly  relations  with  the 
Bishop  of  Pennsylvania,  though  he  was  Bishop  White.  It  failed 
because,  having  no  endowment,  and  being  conducted  with  no 
view  of  making  money,  much  was  going  out  in  its  purchase  and 
extension  and  little  came  in.  It  relied  on  aid  from  the  clergy 
named  above,  in  Philadelphia,  and  on  Dr.  Milner  of  New  York, 
who,  on  account  of  the  great  fire  there,  was  unable  to  raise  money 
for  it.  so  that  it  had  to  suspend.  Bishop  Onderdonk  offered  to 
redeem  it  if  it  should  be  put  under  Diocesan  control,  but  Dr. 
Tyng  refused  the  offer  and  it  closed  in  February,  1837.  Bristol 
College  passed  through  many  changes  ;  once  it  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  Roman  Catholics,  then  it  was  sold  to  the  colored  people. 

With  such  an  able  and  devoted  faculty  as  Bristol  College  had, 
with  its  beauty  and  convenience  of  position,  its  high  and  noble 
aim,  it  should  have  had  a  long  career  of  honor  and  usefulness,  for 
it  did  a  great  work  in  its  short  life  of  four  years.  I  have  never 
understood  why  it  was  allowed  to  perish,  when  other  colleges  have 
lived  on  for  years. 

I  must  add  extracts  from  two  letters  written  me  not  long  before 
his  death,  by  my  valued  and  life-long  friend,  Major  John  Page, 
whose  sons.  Rev.  Frank  Page,  Thomas  Nelson  Page  and  Rosewell 
Page  of  the  Richmond  bar,  are  well  known  : 

Oaki,and,  Va.,  April  30,  1900. 
My  Dear  Old  Friend  : 

Your  letter  gave  tne  unqualified  pleasure. 

One  of  the  pleasures  of  my  past  days  is  to  think  of  the  dear  old  friends  I 
have  known,  among  the  chief  of  whom  I  count  you.  I  have  known  you  for 
sixty-four  years  and  have  always  respected  and  loved  you.  I  ever  think  of 
you  and  the  brave  days  of  Bristol  College.  Never  in  life  have  you  been  out 
of  my  recollection,  and  now  I  rejoice  that  your  honored  old  age  is  so  com- 
fortable, and  that  you  can  look  back  on  a  long  and  useful  life.  I  remember 
with  much  pleasure  the  visit  my  son  Tom  and  I  paid  you.  I,  like  you,  have 
had  great  comfort  in  my  children.     They  have  all  turned  out  well. 

You  have  always  filled  a  post  of  honor,  and  have  had  much  to  do  with 
the  training  of  our  younger  clergy,  among  them  my  own  son.  Rev.  Frank 
Page.  I  know  no  one  who  can  look  back  on  their  past  days  with  more  satisfac- 


Major  John  Page.  67 

tion  than  you  ;  your  long  and  useful  course  of  educating  young  men  for  the 
ministry  must  be  a  source  of  pleasure.  I  have  just  passed  my  seventy-ninth 
birthday,  the  26th  of  April. 

I  subscribe  myself 

Your  sincere  friend, 

JOHN  PAGE. 

Writing  to  Rev.  T.  J.  Packard,  Major  Page  adds  : 

I  remember  your  father  ever  since  the  fall  of  1834,  and  he  seemed  to  me 
as  old  then  as  he  does  now,  the  oldest  young  man,  or  to  put  it  more  politely, 
the  youngest  old  man,  I  ever  saw.  He  was  looked  up  to  there  with  admira- 
tion and  respect,  shall  I  say,  awe  ?  as  much  as  now.  Dr.  Packard  was 
always  considered  a  very  learned  man.  He  was  always  kind  and  considerate 
of  us  boys,  for  we  were  nothing  but  boys.  I  remember  reading  Livy  at 
Bristol  College  under  him,  and  the  little  I  know  of  I^atin  and  Greek  is  very 
much  due  to  his  instruction  and  infusion  of  interest  in  the  study  of  the 
classics. 

[Rev.  Frank  Page  after  my  father's  death  wrote  this  tri- 
bute.—Ed.] 

My  father  always  had  the  greatest  affection  for  him.  Dr.  Packard  was  an 
inspiration  to  us.  His  illustrations,  his  quaint  sayings,  his  reverence  for 
sacred  things,  his  humility,  his  scholarship,  his  cordiality  in  his  own  house, 
I  remember  as  if  it  were  yesterday.  In  fact,  I  cannot  think  of  the  Seminary 
without  him.     I  always  had  the  greatest  regard  for  him. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

COMING  TO  VIRGINIA. 

"  Ah  !  little  kenned  my  mither 
When  a  bairn  she  cradled  me, 
Through  what  lands  I  should  wander, 
And  the  death  that  I  should  dee." 

WHIIvE  teaching  at  Bristol  I  was  elected  in  April,  1836,  Profes- 
sor of  Sacred  L,iterature  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  Vir- 
ginia. I  think  it  was  through  the  agency  of  Professor  William  N. 
Pendleton,  my  colleague,  and  through  the  Virginia  students  there, 
twenty-five  in  number,  whose  names  I  have  mentioned,  that  I 
was  suggested  for  the  place.  It  certainly  seems  the  leading  of 
Providence  that  I,  a  stranger  from  a  distant  State,  should  be 
brought  here.  The  Rev.  Charles  B.  Dana,  rector  of  Christ  church, 
Alexandria,  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Seminary,  had  been  at 
Andover,  and  he  had  written  to  Professor  Stuart  in  regard  to  my 
qualifications.  The  latter  wrote  a  letter,  saying  that  I  had  "  made 
unusual  progress  in  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  Scriptures,"  and  that 
I  was  "  fit  for  any  Faculty."  Professor  Stuart  told  me  later  on, 
some  years  before  his  death,  that  all  his  life  he  had  been  trying  to 
teach  the  Bible,  and  that  I  must  do  the  same. 

I  accepted  the  position  and  went  at  once  to  Andover  to  perfect 
myself.  I  read  and  studied  hard,  but  late  in  the  summer  I  had 
typhoid  or  nervous  fever,  which  left  me  very  weak  and  prevented 
my  coming  to  the  Seminary  till  the  middle  of  October,  after  the 
session  had  begun.  Meanwhile  I  was  ordained  Deacon  by  Bishop 
Griswold,  in  St.  Paul's  church,  Boston,  of  which  Rev.  John  S. 
Lindsay,  D.  D.,  is  now  rector,  on  July  17,  1836,  together  with 
W.  H.  Hoit,  Charles  Mason  and  George  Waters,  just  at  the  very 
time  when  the  venerable  Bishop  White  was  dying.  Bishop  Gris- 
wold preached  on  the  text,  "We  have  this  treasure  in  earthen 
vessels,"  the  same  sermon  as  at  Dr.  Lippitt's  ordination  seven- 
teen years  before.  We  were  presented  by  Dr.  J.  S.  Stone,  who 
examined  us.  Dr.  Stone  I  had  known  before  at  Andover,  where 
he  used  to  come  to  preach,  and  he  was  one  of  our  most  eminent 
and  useful  ministers.  On  that  same  day  in  Virginia  Bishop 
Moore  ordained  Francis  H.  McGuire,  Alex.  M.  Marbury,  Launce- 
lot  B.  Minor,  R.  E.  Northam,  John  Payne  (afterwards  Bishop  of 

68 


My  Ordination.  69 

Africa),  Thomas  S.  Savage  and  I.  E.  Sawyer,  most  of  whom  I 
knew  intimately  later  on.  My  first  sermon  was  preached  at  Han- 
over, Massachusetts,  for  which  I  received  five  dollars,  covering 
my  expenses  there. 

The  day  I  was  ordained  I  took  tea  with  Jeremiah  Mason,  the 
great  lawyer  of  New  England,  whose  son  Charles  was  ordained 
with  me.  Jeremiah  Mason  used  to  stay  with  my  brother  when 
on  his  circuit.  Charles  Mason  was  a  very  attractive  man 
and  good  minister.  I  have  a  volume  of  his  sermons.  About  that 
time  I  met  Amos  Lawrence,  a  philanthropist  and  a  man  of 
great  wealth,  a  millionaire,  which  was  then  a  great  distinction. 
In  a  letter  of  my  father  to  his  daughter,  written  March  30,  1848, 
he  speaks  of  Mr.  Lawrence,  who  was  a  kind  friend  of  his  :  "  Mr. 
Amos  Lawrence  is  still  thinking  of  the  family  for  good.  He  has 
recently  paid  into  the  treasury  of  the  Am.  Board  Society  $150  to 
make  my  five  children  life  members,  thirty  dollars  each,  besides 
doing  other  kindnesses.  My  idea  is  that  he  is  distributing  his 
wealth  very  properly,  and  in  return  I  hope  he  will  enjoy  in  abun- 
dance those  true  riches  which  are  liable  neither  to  rust,  decay  or 
flight."  From  1831  to  the  close  of  his  life  in  1855  he  devoted 
himself  to  deeds  of  charity,  giving  liberally  to  educational  institu- 
tions in  various  parts  of  the  country.  He  founded  and  main- 
tained a  Children's  Infirmary  in  Boston  and  his  private  charities 
were  abundant.  Bishop  William  Lawrence  of  Massachusetts,  his 
grandson  was  assistant  to  my  brother  George,  at  Lawrence,  a 
place  named  from  the  family,  and  always  showed  the  consider- 
ation and  thoughtful  attention  that  marks  the  highest  type  of 
Christian  gentleman. 

The  Episcopal  Church  was  very  weak  in  New  England,  and 
Bishop  Edward  Bass,  the  first  Bishop  of  Massachusetts,  had  only 
labored  six  years,  when  he  passed  away  in  1803,  the  year  my 
brother  Gecrge  was  born.  The  centennial  of  his  consecration  in 
1897  was  marked  by  an  interesting  life  of  him  written  by  Rev. 
D.  D.  Addison. 

He  had  his  fund  of  jokes,  and  some  of  these  have  been  pre- 
served. Although  born  in  Dorchester,  he  had  some  objection 
to  living  there.  Upon  being  remonstrated  with  for  deserting 
his  native  place,  he  simply  replied,  "  The  brooks  of  Dorchester 
are  not  large  enough  for  Bass  to  swim  in." 

His  first  marriage  displeased  many  of  his  parishoners,  and 
caused  a  ripple  of  gossip  to  pass  through  the  town,  so  much  so 


70  Bishop  Bass. 

that  Bishop  Bass  concluded  to  preach  about  it.  For  some  time  he 
could  not  fix  upon  an  appropriate  text,  but  his  search  was  grati- 
fied when  he  found  this  one,  from  which  he  preached  the  follow- 
ing Sunday — Gen.  xx.  2,  "  Surely  the  fear  of  God  is  not  in  this 
place,  and  they  will  slay  me  for  my  wife's  sake."  Nothing  more 
was  said  about  his  wife  after  this,  and  his  second  wife  pro- 
voked no  comment  at  all.  Her  name  was  Mercy,  and  before  his 
marriage  he  preached  on  the  text,  "  He  that  followeth  after  mercy 
findeth  life,"  or  as  some  put  it,  "I  love  mercy  and  I  will  have 
mercy." 

Bishop  Griswold,  Bishop  of  the  Eastern  Diocese,  embracing 
Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island,  was  of  marked  character  and  influence.  He  was  an  evan- 
gelical Low  Churchman,  of  earnest,  spiritual  nature.  He  was  first 
a  lay-reader,  and  was  so  acceptable  that  he  was  urged  to  take  orders. 
He  was  ordained  in  1795  Deacon,  and  in  October,  Priest,  at  the 
last  ordination  of  Bishop  Seabury.  He  was  poor  and  had  to  sup- 
port his  family  by  the  work  of  his  hands  until  ordained,  and,  not 
being  able  to  afford  candles,  he  would  stretch  himself  on  the 
hearth  and  study  by  the  light  of  the  fire  late  into  the  night,  after 
toiling  all  day.  After  his  ordination  his  salary  was  so  small  that 
he  had  to  teach  a  district  school  in  winter,  and  he  worked  in 
summer  at  seventy-five  cents  a  day  harvesting.  While  farming 
he  got  a  beard  of  wheat  in  his  throat,  and  at  last  being  made  to 
cough,  it  came  out,  but  it  affected  his  voice  and  produced  an 
impediment  in  his  speech.  Bishop  Griswold  was  remarkably 
simple  and  unpretending  in  his  ways  ;  this  in  one  in  his  position 
had  a  great  effect  on  people,  and  he  won  many  to  the  Episcopal 
Church ;  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  ministers  from  other  churches 
were  ordained  by  him. 

Prof.  E.  A.  Parks  of  Andover  in  a  sermon  in  1844  satirized 
severely  the  motives  of  those  entering  our  ministry.  He  said  : 
"  Proclamation  has  been  made  in  high  places  that  within  the  last 
thirty  years  about  three  hundred  clergymen  and  licentiates  of 
other  denominations  have  sought  the  ministerial  commission  from 
the  hands  of  bishops  ;  that  two-thirds  of  all  the  present  clergy  of 
the  Church  '  have  come  from  other  folds' ;  and  that  of  two  hundred 
and  eighty-five  persons  ordained  by  a  single  bishop  in  New 
England  [this  was  Bishop  Griswold]  two  hundred  and  seven  were 
converts  from  other  denominations. ' '  He  was  silent  and  reserved, 
but  when  he  spoke  always  said  something  to  the  point.     When  a 


Bishop  Griswold.  71 

young  man  he  was  very  talkative,  but  later  on  he  became  taciturn, 
and  it  was  said  that  the  verse  "  In  the  multitude  of  words  there 
wanteth  not  sin  "  caused  him  to  change  in  this  respect.  He  was 
an  untiring  worker,  preaching  as  rector  at  Bristol  three  times  on 
Sunday  and  teaching  all  the  week.  Once,  crossing  Narragansett 
Bay  in  a  storm,  he  had  to  lie  down  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  as 
ballast,  being  so  large  and  heavy.  As  a  Bishop,  though  his  health 
was  never  strong,  he  labored  with  unflagging  zeal,  continuing 
twenty- four  years  longer  as  a  rector,  besides  superintending  his 
vast  Diocese.  The  year  after  his  consecration  he  reported  twelve 
hundred  confirmations,  and  the  Church  grew  in  grace  as  well  as 
in  numbers,  so  that  he  lived  to  see  the  parishes  increase  five-fold, 
and  his  jurisdiction  divided  into  five  dioceses  able  to  support  four 
bishops,  instead  of  the  one  whom  they  could  not  support.  He 
was  seventy  years  old  when  he  ordained  me,  and  in  1838  he  became 
Presiding  Bishop.  He  took  a  great  interest  in  Foreign  Missions 
and  nominated  the  first  foreign  missionary  ever  sent  out  by  our 
Church.  He  increased  the  circulation  of  the  Prayer-Book,  which 
he  was  wont  to  declare  was  "second  only  to  the  Bible  in  its 
utility."  He  would  never  give  up  in  despair.  Being  asked  to 
consent  to  sell  a  church  in  a  decayed  parish  to  the  Congrega- 
tionalists,  he  said,  "I  can  never  indorse  or  consent  to  such  a 
measure. ' '  Where  there  was  no  church  he  would  hold  services 
in  groves. 

His  last  ofiicial  act  had  been  the  consecration  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Manton  Eastburn  on  December  29,  1842,  as  his  assistant.  On 
February  11,  1843,  he  walked  through  the  snow  to  call  on  him 
and  fell  dead  on  his  doorstep. 

No  greater  character  have  I  known  of  in  our  history  than 
Bishop  Griswold  and  his  influence  and  work  were  never  surpassed 
in  certain  lines. 

Bishop  Eastburn  was  preaching  and  noticed  that  a  woman  near 
the  pulpit  seemed  very  much  affected  and  shed  tears.  In  the 
vestry  room  he  spoke  of  it  and  said  he  would  like  to  speak  with 
her.  The  rector  called  her  in  and  the  Bishop  said,  ' '  What  affected 
you  so  much  in  my  sermon  ?  "  She  replied,  "  I  was  thinking  all 
the  time  of  dear  Bishop  Griswold,  and  that  we  would  never  see 
his  like  again." 

I  left  for  Alexandria  early  in  October,  1836.  It  was  a  long  trip 
and  by  various  conveyances.  I  first  took  steamer  from  New  York 
to  Amboy,  then  by  railroad  to  Camden,  then  by  steamer  to  New 


72  Arrivai,  in  Virginia. 

Castle,  where  I  took  a  short  railroad  to  Frenchtown  ;  thence 
I  took  a  steamboat  again  to  Baltimore.  As  late  as  1844  there  was 
no  railroad  between  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia. 

I  came  from  Baltimore  to  Washington  by  the  railroad  opened 
the  year  before,  and  I  remember  the  almost  unbroken  forests 
between  Baltimore  and  Washington.  There  was  only  one  steam- 
boat, going  twice  a  day  from  Washington  to  Alexandria  at  11 
and  4,  and  Joe  Johnson  was  its  name.  Rev.  Frederick  D.  Good- 
win, who  had  been  ordained  with  William  M.  Jackson  exactly 
five  years  before  me,  July  17,  1831,  was  on  board,  and  was  just 
removing  to  another  parish,  I  think.  He  spent  a  long  and  most 
useful  ministry  and  handed  over  his  work  to  his  sons.  Revs. 
Robert  A.,  rector  of  old  St.  John's,  Richmond,  where  Patrick 
Henry  made  his  famous  speech  ;  Edward  I,.,  also  of  Richmond, 
both  of  whom  have  labored  most  faithfully.  His  grandsons, 
Revs.  William  A.  R.  Goodwin,  of  Petersburg,  Frederick  G. 
Ribble,  of  Culpeper,  John  F.  Ribble,  of  Newport,  all  laboring 
in  Virginia,  and  G.  W.  Ribble,  a  devoted  missionary  in  Brazil, 
and  a  daughter,  Mrs.  Thomas  H.  Lacy,  of  Lynchburg,  testify  to 
the  influences  that  must  have  existed  in  that  Christian  home. 

I  hired  a  hack  and  came  out  to  the  Seminary  October  17.  On 
Shooter's  Hill  I  met  James  A.  Buck  and  William  T.  Leavell, 
whom  I  had  known  at  Bristol,  and  after  seeing  them  I  felt  more 
at  home.  The  Seminary  that  year  had  29  students  ;  in  1833  there 
were  36,  in  1834,  32,  and  in  1835,  22  ;  and  three  professors — Rev. 
Reuel  Keith,  Rev.  E.  R.  Lippitt  and  myself. 

The  following  notice  appeared  in  the  Soiitheryi  Churchman 
about  this  time  : 

TheoIvOgical  Seminary  of  Virginia. — We  understand  that 
the  Rev.  Joseph  Packard,  late  Professor  of  the  Latin,  Hebrew  and 
German  languages  in  Bristol  College,  Pennsylvania,  has  accepted 
the  chair  of  Professor  of  Sacred  Literature  in  this  institution. 
From  the  character  we  have  heard  of  Mr.  Packard,  we  feel  author- 
ized to  congratulate  the  friends  of  the  Seminary  upon  the  accession 
of  such  valuable  aid.  He  will  enter  upon  his  duties  as  Professor 
in  October  next. 

The  Trustees,  in  their  report  to  the  Convention  of  1837,  kindly 
said  of  me  :  "  .  .  .  As  a  scholar  and  a  Christian  he  has  the 
entire  confidence  of  all  who  know  him,  and  as  an  instructor  is 
highly  acceptable  to  the  students." 

When  I  came  to  the  Seminary,  in  1836,  we  note  from  the  Jour- 


Trustees  and  Friends.  73 

nal  that  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Seminary  consisted  of  the 
Bishop  or  Bishops  "  and  thirteen  members,  to  be  chosen  by  the 
Convention  of  the  Church,  who  shall  be  elected  every  three  years, 
and  no  Professor  of  the  institution  shall  be  eligible  as  Trustee."' 
Also  this  rule:  "  The  Board  of  Managers  shall  keep  a  regular 
record  of  their  proceedings  and  report  the  same  regularly  to  the 
annual  meetings  of  the  Convention."  Among  the  Trustees 
elected  in  1836  for  three  years  are  the  names  of  Rev.  John  Gram- 
mer,  father  of  Rev.  Dr.  James  Grammer,  for  many  years  now  a 
Trustee  also,  two  Nelsons,  two  McGuires,  James  M.  Garnett, 
grandfather  of  Prof.  James  M.  Garnett,  Ph.  D.,  and  of  our 
present  Trustee,  Judge  Theodore  S.  Garnett,  who  filled  many  public 
positions  and  was  a  very  popular  writer.  All  of  them  were  noble 
men  and  good  friends  to  me. 

Of  the  seventy-nine  men  ordained  Deacons  in  the  year  1836  all 

have  passed  away  except  two— Bishop  Clark  and  John  Linn  Mc- 

Kim  of  Delaware.     Nine  of  that  number  were  deposed  ;  four  were 

Bishops— Clark,  Boone,  Payne,  Atkinson  ;  twenty-six  died  before 

i860 ;  Minor,  Payne  and  Savage  went  as  missionaries  to  Africa 

the  next  year,  and  Boone  to  China.     Others  were  prominent  as 

ministers  ;  among  them  Rev.  Martin  P.  Parks  (the  father  of  Rev. 

Drs.  I^eighton  and  J.  Lewis  Parks),  who  succeeded  Bishop  Meade 

at  Christ  church,  Norfolk,  and  was  a  very  striking  preacher  ;  Dr. 

C.  M.  Butler,  so  useful   in  Washington  and  Philadelphia ;  Rev. 

John  F.  Hoff,  beloved  and  honored  in  Maryland  ;  Rev.  Dr.  A.  T. 

Twing,  our   General   Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Missions  many 

years  ;  and  many  others,  beloved  and  useful  ministers. 

I  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  in  the  basement  of  the  Semi- 
nary by  Bishop  Meade  on  Friday,  September  29,  1837— a  very 
solemn  occasion  to  me.  There  was  no  chapel  at  the  Seminary 
and  no  regular  Sunday  services  there  until  1840,  and  the  students 
walked  into  Alexandria  to  church.  The  churches  in  Alexandria, 
Christ  and  St.  Paul's,  had  strong  rectors— Revs.  C.  B.  Dana  and 
J.  S.  Johnston,  who  came  there  about  the  same  time,  1833. 

1  knew  Mr.  Dana  very  intimately  and  sometimes  preached  for 
him.  He  was  very  particular  and  precise,  and  once  when  I  had 
not  my  bands,  he  was  much  disconcerted.  This  seems  strange 
now,  but  the  bands  were  an  important  part  of  the  clerical  dress 
at  that  time. 

Bishop  Atkinson  once  after  getting  to  church  sent  to  his  home 
for  a  pair  of  fresh  bands.     The  warden  thought  he  asked  for  a 


74  Dana  and  Johnston. 

pair  of  pants.     Mrs.  A.,  wondering   why  he  wanted   them,  sent 
his  winter  pants.     The  warden  called  the  Bishop  from  the  pulpit, 
and  he  was  much  astonished  at  receiving  his  trousers  instead  of 
the  bands. 

Another  story  illustrates  the  use  of  the  bands.  A  rector  came 
into  church  one  day  as  his  curate  had  entered  the  reading  desk, 
and  sent  word  that  he  wished  to  preach  but  had  forgotten  his 
bands.  The  only  way  was  for  the  curate  to  untie  his  own  bands 
and  hand  them  up  when  the  rector  mounted  the  three  decker  to 
preach.  Unluckily  as  he  untied  them,  the  string  of  the  bands 
got  into  a  knot.  By  a  strange  coincidence  the  singers  struck  up 
the  anthem,  "  lyoose  the  bands  of  thy  neck,  O  captive  daughter 
of  Zion."  As  they  repeated  the  words  over  and  over — "  Ivoose 
the  bands  of  thy  neck,  loose  the  bands,  loose  the  bands," — the 
helpless  curate  became  more  baffled  in  his  efforts  to  untie  the 
strings,  and  supposed  the  anthem  directed  at  him. 

Mr.  Dana  gave  out  the  Psalms  in  metre  in  regular  order  every 
Sunday  till  all  were  sung,  when  he  would  begin  again.  He  was 
cold  and  impassive  in  his  manners,  a  graduate  of  Andover,  an 
accurate  scholar  and  nearly  related  to  Mr.  Dana,  editor  of  the 
New  York  Su7i.  He  was  at  Christ  church  from  1833-1860,  and, 
while  not  aggressive,  as  men  are  now,  he  did  good  work  and  was 
much  respected  there  and  was  influential  in  the  Diocese,  especially 
as  a  Trustee  of  the  Seminary.  Professor  Parks  of  Andover,  a 
famous  man,  visited  him  and  attended  the  Episcopal  church. 
Mr.  Dana  was  not  a  popular  preacher,  being  somewhat  formal  and 
dry.  I  recall  one  of  his  anecdotes  in  a  sermon.  Two  noble 
Romans  were  friends,  and  on  parting  they  divided  between  them 
a  tessara  and  agreed  if  they  ever  met  or  needed  anything  to  show 
it.  One  was  arrested  and  tried  before  a  judge,  who  happened  to 
be  his  old  friend.  He  held  up  the  tessara,  "  Knowest  thou  this 
tessara  ?  "  and  escaped  sentence. 

Mr.  Johnston  was  much  admired  and  respected.  He  was  digni- 
fied and  stately,  and  took  great  pains  with  his  sermons,  learning 
them  by  heart  ;  he  was  very  popular  as  a  preacher.  He  had 
the  professors  to  preach  for  him  Sunday  afternoons  when  the 
congregation  was  smaller,  for  which  he  paid  us.  Mrs.  Johnston 
while  at  the  North  knew  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  L,.  Hawks.  Once  rid- 
ing together  her  horse  ran  away  ;  Dr.  Hawks  could  not  overtake 
her,  but  in  his  beautiful  and  stentorian  voice  called  after  her, 
"  Hold  on  tight."     When  the  horse  stopped  and  he  came  up,  she 


Contemporary  Events.  75 

said  to  him  :  "  Did  you  think  I  was  such  a  fool  as  to  let  go  if  I 
could  help  it  ?  "  Dr.  Johnston  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  Once  I 
went  to  see  him  before  his  death,  and  asked  him  if  I  should  pray 
and  for  what.  He  said  :  "  Yes,  pray  that  I  may  recover  and  live 
longer." 

"  The  tree  of  deepest  root  is  found 
Reluctant  still  to  leave  the  ground." 

Few  indeed  are  like  Sir  David  Brewster,  who  felt  that  he  had 
done  all  that  he  desired  to  do.  Many  are  like  one  of  the  best  of 
servants  and  friends,  as  Dr.  Boyd  says,  whose  words  were,  "I 
never  could  have  lain  down  at  a  worse  time." 

Several  interesting  events  occurred  about  the  time  of  my  coming 
to  the  Virginia  Seminary.  The  Baltimore  Sun,  which  has  for 
two-thirds  of  a  century  grown  ever  greater  as  a  clean  reliable 
newspaper,  made  its  first  appearance,  and  I  have  its  first  number, 
a  small  folio  sheet.  Roger  B.  Taney  of  Maryland  that  year  was 
appointed  Chief  Justice  and  Philip  P.  Barbour  of  Virginia,  Justice 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  Martin  Van  Buren  was  the 
first  President  I  saw  inaugurated.  Victoria  became  Queen  of 
England  one  year  after  my  appointment,  but  has  passed  away 
while  I  am  still  living. 

Sir  Isaac  Pitman  invented  his  shorthand  system.  Windham 
Robertson  of  an  old  and  honored  family  became  Governor  of 
Virginia.  How  strange  it  seems  to  know  that  thousands  of 
settlers  in  Georgia  and  Alabama  left  their  homes  that  year,  1836, 
through  fear  of  the  Indians  !  Of  all  the  families  that  then  lived 
and  received  me,  a  stranger  from  the  North,  so  cordially  and 
hospitably,  few  survivors  remain.  Dr.  Wilmer  kindly  wrote  my 
son,  "  What  grand  men  the  North  furnished  us  and  what  good 
Southerners  they  became!  Dr.  Dame,  Dr.  Woodbridge,  Dr. 
Packard,  and  others." 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  VIRGINIA  SEMINARY. 

THE  Seminary  was  only  thirteen  years  old  when  I  came,  and 
it  is  now  in  its  eightieth  year.  Of  the  nearly  one  thou- 
sand alumni,  I  have  known  all  but  about  forty.  Of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  alumni  before  1843  only  one  is  still  alive,  the 
Rev.  John  M.  Todd,  who  now  lives  in  Maryland,  after  a  long  and 
active  life,  well  known  in  conventions. 

When  I  came  to  the  Seminary  it  was  embosomed  deep  in  lofty 
woods,  which  stretched  nearly  all  the  way  from  Alexandria,  with 
paths  and  roads  through  them.  It  was  no  wonder  that,  twenty 
years  after,  Phillips  Brooks  lost  his  way  in  coming  out  to  the 
Seminary,  for  the  road  seemed  to  end  at  no  place. 

The  origin  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  Virginia  is  a  matter 
of  deep  interest.  While  we  can  trace  out  its  first  beginnings,  and 
name  with  honor  those  whose  efforts  gave  it  "  a  local  habitation 
and  a  name,"  yet  in  a  peculiar  sense  it  is  the  child  of  God.  His 
spirit  worked  in  the  minds  of  good  men  in  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
inspiring  them  with  love  for  the  souls  perishing  for  the  bread  of 
life,  and  with  zeal  for  the  sending  forth  of  true  ministers  of  the 
Word. 

This  Seminary  is  in  idea  and  in  actual  attempt  the  oldest  in 
our  Church.  We  cannot  say  of  it  that,  like  Jonah's  gourd,  it 
came  up  in  a  night.  Several  years  elapsed  before  its  idea  took  a 
definite  form.  Those  who  were  earnest  in  reviving  the  Church 
in  Virginia  saw  clearly  that  the  great  need  was  a  supply  of  well- 
trained  ministers.  Our  Diocese  deserves  the  credit  of  being  the 
first  in  this  country  to  take  steps  to  provide  for  the  education  of 
its  candidates  for  Orders. 

One  of  the  grandest  monuments  to  the  revival  of  the  Church  in 
Virginia  was  the  founding  of  this  Seminary. 

In  1 812  Rev.  William  H.  Wilmer  came  as  rector  to  St.  Paul's, 
Alexandria,  from  Kent  county,  Maryland,  where  his  ancestors 
had  settled  after  leaving  England  in  1650.  He  had  proposed 
while  in  Maryland  the  founding  of  a  theological  school,  but  it  was 
not  favored.  Coming  to  Virginia,  he  found  in  Rev.  William 
Meade,  ordained  in  181 1,  one  of  like  zeal  and  devotion. 

76 


The  Seminary's  Beginning.  77 

In  1 813,  two  years  before  the  General  Seminary  was  established, 
Dr.  John  Augustine  Smith,  President  of  William  and  Mary  Col- 
lege, proposed  to  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese,  as  he  had  already 
done  in  18 14  to  Bishop  Moore,  who  was  removing  from  New 
York  to  Virginia,  that  the  support  of  a  theological  chair  be  pro- 
vided in  that  institution,  where  there  was  already  a  valuable 
library,  formed  by  Drs.  Blair  and  Bray. 

Rev.  Messrs.  Wilmer  and  Meade  were  on  the  committee  on  the 
State  of  the  Church  in  the  Virginia  Diocesan  Convention  of  1815 
and  they  reported  a  resolution,  which  was  adopted,  "that  the 
Bishop  and  Standing  Committee  be  authorized  to  adopt  measures 
for  the  promotion  of  an  object  of  such  magnitude,  and  which  may, 
under  the  blessing  of  God,  be  productive  of  the  most  beneficial 
consequences."  Dr.  Hawks  says  :  "  This  incident  contributed, 
in  the  hands  of  Providence,  to  produce,  a  few  years  afterwards, 
the  Theological  School  at  Alexandria."  In  1818  the  Education 
Society  was  formed  by  clergymen  and  laymen  assembled  in  Wash- 
ington, of  which  Dr.  Wilmer  was  President  until  he  left  Alexan- 
dria, and  for  which  he  issued  stirring  appeals.  Of  it  Dr.  Hawks 
said  in  1836:  "It  has  never  failed  to  aSbrd  assistance  to  every 
properly  qualified  applicant,  and  has  aided  more  than  one-tenth 
of  all  the  clergy  in  this  country."  It  still  continues  this  good 
work. 

The  founding  of  a  Diocesan  Seminary  was  much  opposed  at 
first.  One  of  the  bishops  wrote  Bishop  Moore  that  such  a  plan 
would  mar  the  unity  and  peace  of  our  Church,  and  urged  him  to 
patronize  the  General  Seminary,  then  at  New  Haven.  The 
legacy  of  Mr.  Kohme  to  a  seminary  in  New  York  brought  out  a 
pamphlet  from  Bishop  Hobart  in  favor  of  diocesan  seminaries,  and 
this  form  of  opposition  ceased.  The  General  Seminary  was  trans- 
ferred to  New  York  on  terms  which  secured  its  chief  control  by 
that  Diocese. 

In  1820  Dr.  Wilmer.  in  his  report  from  the  Committee  on  the 
State  of  the  Church,  recommended  the  appointment  of  a  Clerical 
Professor  at  William  and  Mary  College,  and  Rev.  Reuel  Keith 
was  chosen. 

In  1 82 1  Dr.  Wilmer,  from  the  same  committee,  recommended 
"  the  establishment  of  a  theological  school  in  Williamsburg,  and 
that  a  board  of  trustees  be  appointed  to  select  one  or  more  profes- 
sors, and  to  raise  funds  for  that  object,  and  to  correspond  with 


78  Seminary  at  Wii^liamsburg. 

the  Standing  Committees  of  Maryland  and  North  Carolina  to 
ascertain  if  they  are  disposed  to  co-operate  with  us."  In  1822  Dr. 
Wilmer  reports  that  ten  thousand  dollars  had  been  raised.  It  is 
expressly  stated  that  this  action  is  from  no  opposition  to  the  Gen- 
eral Seminary  founded  by  the  General  Convention,  but  because 
peculiar  circumstances  made  a  seminary  in  the  South  necessary. 
That  same  year  the  Convention  of  Maryland  resolved  to  establish 
a  theological  seminary,  the  trustees  of  which  elected  Dr.  Wilmer 
president,  but  the  strong  hand  of  Bishop  Kemp  crushed  it.  The 
school  did  not  succeed  at  WiUiamsburg,  having  only  one  student  ; 
so  it  was  removed  after  a  year  to  Alexandria,  where  it  met  the 
wishes  of  the  Maryland  brethren,  and  received  the  funds  intended 
for  their  proposed  "school  of  the  prophets."  Dr.  Wilmer  had 
alwa3's  felt  the  need  of  such  a  school,  and  it  had  been  ever  his  chief 
thought.  He  had,with  the  Vestry's  permission,  built  a  schoolroom 
in  St.  Paul's  church-yard,  and  John  Thomas  Wheat,  a  student  of 
divinity  under  him,  taught  school  there,  and  that  little  schoolhouse 
may  be  said  to  be  the  birthplace  of  the  present  Seminary,  and  Dr. 
Wilmer  and  Bishop  Meade  deserve  to  be  called  the  founders  of 
the  Virginia  Seminary.  The  early  records  of  the  Seminary  in  Dr. 
Wilmer' s  handwriting  show  how  great  was  his  love  and  his  serv- 
ice for  its  foundation. 

Among  the  laymen  who  helped  to  establish  this  Seminary  stand 
high  the  names  of  Dr.  and  General  Henderson  (of  the  U.  S. 
Marines)  in  whose  house  the  meeting  was  held  which  fixed  on 
Alexandria  ;  Francis  Scott  Key,  a  famous  and  noble  man,  and 
after  its  organization,  Mr.  John  Nelson,  of  Virginia,  who  collected 
by  his  eflforts  a  large  sum  of  money. 

Rev.  Dr.  Wilmer  was  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Washing- 
ton, as  well  of  St.  Paul's,  Alexandria,  at  the  same  time,  but  found 
it  too  much  with  all  his  other  duties.  His  ofiice  as  rector  was  no 
sinecure. 

In  1824  Bishop  Meade  reports  to  the  Diocesan  Convention  from 
the  Board  of  Trustees  that  the  Seminary  has  been  started,  as  I 
have  stated  above,  with  two  professors,  and  that  the  whole  course 
of  studies  has  been  entirely  conformed  to  the  Canons  of  the 
Church,  and  as  prescribed  by  the  House  of  Bishops.  He  states 
that  the  removal  from  Williamsburg  to  Alexandria  was  necessary, 
as  the  former  place  was  too  remote  and  inaccessible. 

The  session  of  1824  opened  with   twenty-one  students.     The 


Seminary  at  Ai^exandria.  79 

course  of  study  was  good.  The  four  Gospels  and  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  were  critically  studied  in  Greek,  and  eighteen  chapters 
of  Genesis  and  thirty  Psalms  in  Hebrew  by  the  Junior  Class, 
besides  the  usual  English  studies.  The  Senior  Class  studied  all 
the  Epistles,  and  twenty  chapters  of  Isaiah  in  Hebrew,  with  Sys- 
tematic Divinity  and  Church  History,  &c.  Each  member  of  this 
class,  as  now,  had  in  his  turn  to  prepare  a  thesis,  a  sermon,  and 
to  read  the  service.  On  these  occasions  the  students  were  per- 
mitted to  offer  their  criticisms  and  remarks  on  the  performances, 
which  must  have  made  things  lively  and  interesting,  and  the  next 
week  each  of  the  professors  criticised  them. 

In  the  class  of  1824  was  the  Rev.  Caleb  J.  Good,  with  whom  I 
was  associated  at  Bristol  College  as  colleague,  and  with  whom  I 
was  very  intimate,  for  he  was  my  dearest  friend  there.  He  was 
afterwards  professor  at  Trinity  College,  Connecticut.  He  was  a 
man  of  earnest  piety,  and  faithful  in  every  sphere — as  preacher, 
as  teacher,  and  as  friend.  He  was  for  some  time  in  Caroline 
county,  Virginia. 

In  the  spring  of  1825  the  Rev.  Mr.  Norris,  rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Alexandria,  was  chosen  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology. 
In  August  Mr.  Norris  was  seized  with  fever  and  died — a  man  of 
gentle,  persuasive  manners  and  deep  piety,  a  tender  and  faithful 
pastor  and  preacher.  He  and  our  beloved  Dr.  Suter  have  been 
the  only  rectors  of  Christ  Church  who  have  died  in  office.  In  the 
case  of  both  of  them  the  bell  of  old  Christ  Church  rang  for  service 
just  before  death  came.  Mr.  Norris,  recognizing  its  familiar 
tones,  said  to  his  attendants,  "  Go  to  church,  go  to  church,"  and 
soon  afterwards  went  himself  to  the  Church  of  the  First-born  in 
heaven.  His  son,  William  Herbert,  was  a  graduate  in  1842,  and 
married  a  daughter  of  Judge  Rawle,  of  Philadelphia. 

Thus  early  in  its  history  it  was  shown  that  there  was  need  and 
demand  for  the  Theological  School  of  Virginia.  By  its  situation 
in  the  South,  and  its  accommodation  to  the  habits  and  manners  of 
that  section,  it  attracted  without  injury  to  the  General  Seminary 
a  support  and  attendance  which  otherwise  would  have  been  lost 
to  the  Church.  Many  of  its  students  would  have  attended  no 
seminary,  and  would  doubtless  have  never  entered  the  ministry, 
as  Bishop  Meade  said.  We  notice  now,  in  the  names  of  the 
clergy  of  Virginia,  the  fact  that  nearly  all  of  them  are  natives  of 
the  State,  "  to  the  manner  born,"  and  certainly  there  are  nowhere 
more  devoted  and  useful  clergymen  than  they  are. 


8o  Rev.  William  F.  Lee. 

Of  the  class  of  1825,  I  knew  very  well  the  Revs.  John  T.  Brooke, 
D.  D.,  John  B.  Clemson,  D.  D.,  John  P.  McGuire,  and  John  T. 
Wheat,  D.  D.,  of  whom  I  must  speak  later  on. 

Rev.  William  F.  Lee  of  that  class  died  May  19,  1837,  shortly 
after  my  coming  and  I  attended  his  burial  in  Alexandria. 

Bishop  Meade,  speaking  of  him  said  :  "  The  hopes  and  efforts 
of  the  few  remaining  friends  and  members  of  the  Church  in  Gooch- 
land were  aroused  in  the  year  1826  by  the  missionary  labors  of 
the  Rev.  William  F.  Lee.  As  to  body,  Mr.  Lee  being  little  more 
than  thin  air,  or  a  light  feather,  as  he  galloped  over  these  coun- 
ties, his  horse  felt  not  his  rider  on  his  back  ;  but  the  people  felt 
the  weight  and  power  of  a  strong  mind  and  will,  and  the  pressure 
of  a  heart  and  soul  devoted  to  the  love  of  God  and  man.  He  laid 
the  foundation  anew  of  the  churches  in  Goochland,  Powhatan, 
Amelia,  and  Chesterfield,  and  lived  to  see  them  all  supplied  by 
ministers.  His  physical  power  being  incompetent  to  these  itiner- 
ant labors,  he  took  charge  of  the  Church  of  St.  John's,  in  Rich- 
mond, and  afterwards  of  that  in  the  Valley.  His  health  failing, 
even  for  this,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  press,  and  was  the  first 
editor  of  the  Southern  Onirchman,  establishing  it  in  Richmond. 
He  continued  to  edit  the  same,  until  his  part  of  the  work  was  per- 
formed, when,  lying  on  his  sick  bed,  his  proof-sheets  corrected, 
his  selections  made,  and  editorials  written,  while  propped  up  with 
bolster  and  pillows,  thus  to  the  last  spending  and  being  spent  in 
the  Master's  service.  During  his  stay  in  Richmond,  he  was  as  a 
right  hand  to  Bishop  Moore,  who  not  only  loved  him,  for  his 
amiable  and  zealous  piety,  but  respected  him  for  his  good  judg- 
ment, which  he  often  consulted." 

William  L.  Marshall  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Moore  at  the 
same  time  as  Lee  in  1825,  and  married  Anne  Kinloch,  a  sister  of 
Robert  E.  Lee.  A  curious  thing  happened  in  St.  James  Parish, 
Anne  Arundel  County,  Maryland,  where  my  son  was  afterwards 
rector.  A  vacancy  occurring,  two  ministers  were  invited  to  come 
and  preach,  Rev.  Messrs.  Marshall  and  Drane.  They  both  hap- 
pened to  fix  on  the  same  Sunday,  and  there  being  only  one  service, 
they  agreed  to  preach  at  that.  After  Mr.  Marshall  descended 
from  the  pulpit,  Mr.  Drane  went  up  and  preached.  There  was  a 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  their  merits.  Many  preferred  Mr. 
Drane,  but  Mr.  Marshall  was  chosen  rector  ;  some  said  on  account 
of  his  family  and  connections.     He  did  not  stay  long,  went  to 


Miss  Sallie  Griffith.  8i 

Baltimore,  gave  up  the  ministry,  studied  law  and  became  an  emi- 
nent jurist  and  judge. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Clemson  speaks  of  the  olden  times  thus  :  ' '  There 
were  but  few  students  in  my  time,  and  they  had  happy  homes  in 
the  families  of  Miss  Peggy  Ashton  and  Miss  Sallie  Griffith.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Norris  always  reminded  me  of  the  Apostle  John.  .  .  . 
The  opening  years  of  the  Seminary  were  very  auspicious.  They 
were  wise  and  true  men  who  made  choice  of  such  fit  instruments 
for  laying  the  foundation  on  which  has  been  reared  so  grand  a 
superstructure  to  the  glory  of  God." 

Miss  Sallie  Griffith  was  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  David  Griffith,  who 
was  elected  first  Bishop  of  Virginia  in  1786,  but  was  unable  to  ob- 
tain means  to  go  to  England  for  his  consecration,  his  salary  being 
then  only  $250  a  year,  and  his  friends  being  unable  to  raise  the 
money  to  send  him  to  England.  He  was  a  noble  and  able  man, 
the  friend  of  Washington  and  I^afayette.  He  was  rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Alexandria,  from  1780-89  and  died  that  year,  while  at- 
tending the  General  Convention  in  Philadelphia. 

Miss  Sallie  was  a  lovely  character  and  a  devoted  Christian.  She 
was  the  aunt  of  Colonel  Llewellyn  and  Rev.  William  Hoxton, 
Mrs.  A.  M.  Randolph  and  Mrs.  Buckner  Randolph.  She  remem- 
bered General  Washington  dandling  her  on  his  knee,  when  visit- 
ing her  father.  I  buried  her  in  Alexandria  at  the  close  of  the 
war.  Dr.  Hoxton,  her  brother-in-law,  was  confirmed  at  home  on 
his  deathbed,  by  Bishop  Johns. 

At  her  house  Professor  Keith  and  four  of  the  students  lived  and 
all  of  his  recitations  were  in  that  building.  How  many  pass  it, 
even  of  our  alumni,  on  the  streets  of  Alexandria,  without  any  rec- 
ognition or  knowledge  of  its  existence  or  associations.  It  stands 
diagonally  across  from  the  electric-car  office,  corner  of  Washing- 
ton and  King  streets  ;  and  judging  from  the  various  signs  on  its 
walls,  it  has  now  a  variety  of  uses.  "Ah  Moy  Laundry  "  is  one 
of  the  most  prominent,  the  corner  room  facing  both  streets,  on  the 
lower  floor.  A  ' '  heathen  Chinee, ' '  in  the  room  of  Dr.  Keith.  ' '  W. 
E.  Dienelt,  Ophthalmic  Optician,  Eyes  Examined  Free,"  is  another 
in  a  line  with  the  former,  towards  Duke  street.  Beyond  this  are 
two  others  of  a  plumber  and  gas-fitter.  On  the  second  floor, 
fronting  King  street,  is  another,  "  Rooms  of  the  Business  League 
of  Alexandria,"  and  on  the  same  floor,  fronting  Washington 
street,  there  is  another,  of  "  a  school  of  shorthand  typewriting". 


82  Rev.  George  A.  Smith. 

This,  the  original  Seminary,  thus  still  has  its  hive  of  workers. 
But  of  what  different  nature  and  for  what  different  purposes  ! 

The  Seminary  was  opened  in  Alexandria,  October  15,  1823, 
with  Rev.  Reuel  Keith  giving  his  entire  time  to  teaching  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  Biblical  Criticism  and  Evidences,  and  Rev. 
Dr.  Wilmer,  Rector  of  St.  Paul's,  as  Professor  of  Systematic  Di- 
vinity, Church  History  and  Polity.  Fourteen  students  were  in 
attendance.  The  Rev.  George  A.  Smith,  a  graduate  of  Prince- 
ton, was  led  into  our  Church  and  ministry  by  Rev.  Dr.  Wilmer 
and  was  the  only  graduate  of  1823.  He  was  a  man  of  deep  piety, 
fine  ability,  and  strong  character,  and  his  influence  was  felt  in 
many  directions  in  this  Diocese  for  the  long  period  of  sixty-five 
years.  He  was  a  life-long  friend  of  mine,  a  man  of  excellent 
judgment,  of  wide  sympathies.  He  was  prevented  from  preach- 
ing lor  many  years  by  a  weak  voice,  but  as  educator  of  youth,  as 
editor,  as  writer,  and,  most  of  all,  by  his  holy  life  and  conversa- 
tion he  did  noble  work  for  the  Church.  He  held  several  impor- 
tant charges,  and  when  compelled  to  give  up  preaching,  was 
editor  for  a  time  of  the  Episcopal  Recorder,  and  later  of  the 
Southern  Churchman,  as  also,  still  later,  rector  of  the  Clarens 
School.  For  many  years,  he  was  chairman,  at  the  annual  meet- 
ings of  the  alumni. 

In  1826,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wilmer,  who,  before  the  Seminary  was 
organized,  was  training  young  men  for  the  ministry,  and  had 
given  his  services  without  pay  as  professor  for  three  years,  re- 
signed St.  Paul's  and  went  to  Williamsburg  as  President  of 
William  and  Mary  College,  where  he  only  lived  for  one  year. 
His  death  caused  profound  grief  to  every  family  there,  and  to  the 
Diocese.  His  work  and  influence  in  that  year  were  great  and  far- 
reaching.  Bishop  Meade,  in  "  Old  Churches,"  wrote:  "Beside 
the  regular  services  of  the  Church  and  the  duties  of  the  College, 
lectures  and  prayer-meetings  were  held  in  private  houses,  twice  a 
week,  and  the  first  fruits  of  a  genuine  revival  of  true  religion,  in 
the  College  and  in  the  town,  had  appeared."  His  career,  though 
short,  was  a  splendid  one  and  deserves  to  be  remembered.  Or- 
dained by  Bishop  Claggett  in  1808,  after  four  years  in  Maryland 
he  came  to  St.  Paul's,  Alexandria.  He  was  among  the  first 
clergymen  of  Virginia  from  the  start,  and  among  the  foremost  in 
restoring  the  Church  there  and  in  founding  the  Seminary.  He 
presided  and  preached  at  the  Virginia  Convention  in  18 14,  and 
was  instrumental  in  bringing  Bishop  Moore  to  Virginia.     He  was 


Rev.  Dr.  W.  H.  Wilmer.  83 

always  President  of  the  Standing  Committee,  and  always  headed 
the  delegation  to  the  General  Convention,  and  he  was  President  of 
the  House  of  Deputies  for  four  successive  sessions.  He  and  Mr. 
Norris  imported  the  Canon  on  Clerical  Discipline,  nearly  a  literal 
transcript  of  that  in  Maryland,  which  had  been  introduced  from 
the  English  Canon  through  Rev.  Walter  D.  Addison. 

In  1823,  Bishop  Moore  being  absent  from  sickness,  Rev.  Dr. 
Wilmer  was  elected  President  of  the  Convention  by  ballot.  His 
ability  and  his  untiring  energy,  physical,  intellectual  and  moral, 
enabled  him  to  do  the  work  of  many  men  in  the  parish,  the  press, 
the  lecture-room,  in  letters,  and  in  visiting.  Though  not  twenty 
years  in  the  ministry,  his  record  is  a  glorious  one.  He  died  July 
23,  1827,  and  was  buried  beneath  the  floor  of  the  church  in  Wil- 
liamsburg. Bishop  Meade,  for  the  Trustees,  said:  "The  Board 
has  sustained  a  heavy  loss  in  the  death  of  the  lamented  Wilmer. 
In  this  and  every  other  department  of  usefulness  he  ever  displayed 
a  judgment,  zeal  and  activity  seldom  united  in  one  man."  Bishop 
Moore  paid  him  the  highest  tribute,  and  many  others  have  risen 
up  and  called  him  blessed.  He  was  a  model  of  a  Christian 
minister. 

He  was  a  man  of  deepest  piety,  of  great  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  of  most  winning  personality  and  a  most  able  preacher. 
His  half-brothers,  Simon  and  lycmuel,  were  also  devoted  ministers 
in  Maryland,  and  his  children  were  the  late  Bishop  of  Alabama, 
Rev.  Dr.  George  T.  Wilmer,  Mrs.  Samuel  Buel  and  Mrs.  R.  Tem- 
pleman  Brown.  He  published  in  1815  The  Episcopal  Manual,  a 
most  useful  book  on  the  Church,  which  passed  through  several 
editions,  and  in  1818  a  Controversy  with  Mr.  Baxter,  a  Jesuit 
priest.  He  founded  in  1819  the  Washington  Theological  Repertory , 
which  he  edited  for  several  years. 

His  son.  Rev.  Dr.  George  T.  Wilmer,  my  pupil  at  Bristol,  for 
whom  I  stood  sponsor  when  he  entered  the  ministry,  died  at  Chat- 
ham, Virginia,  where  he  spent  his  last  years,  honored  and  beloved, 
October  7,  1898.  A  ripe  scholar,  an  able  minister,  a  strong  and 
earnest  preacher,  he  had  won  the  love  and  respect  of  all  who 
knew  him. 

In  1826  the  Rev.  E.  R.  I^ippitt  was  appointed  Professor  of  Sys- 
tematic Divinity.  He  was  of  a  distinguished  family  in  Rhode 
Island,  and  had  been  in  the  Diocese  a  few  years  before  as  rector 
of  Norborne  parish,  Berkeley  county.  He  was  a  graduate  of 
Brown  University  and  had  been  master  of  the  I^atin  school  there. 


84  Professor  E.  R.  IvIppitt. 

He  was  highly  recommended  for  the  position  of  professor  and 
was  here  until  1842,  when  he  resigned.  He  then  for  six  years  had 
charge  of  the  Sotcthern  Churchman.  After  passing  through  a 
series  of  distressing  providences,  which  he  bore  meekly  and  with- 
out complaint,  he  died  at  his  son's  house  in  Clarke  county  in  1870. 
Bishop  Smith,  a  life-long  friend,  says  that  he  was  a  refined  gentle- 
man, an  accurate  scholar,  an  exemplary  Christian.  Dr.  Sparrow 
said  that  his  mind  was  highly  cultivated,  but  that  his  extreme 
modesty  repressed  the  exhibition  of  his  powers.  He  was  the  only 
man  I  ever  knew  overburdened  with  modesty.  His  death  was 
peaceful  and  happy,  and  he  had  prepared  lor  it  as  he  would  have 
done  for  a  night's  rest. 

He  was  for  several  years  the  regular  pastor  of  Falls  Church, 
and  was  always  ready  for  every  good  work.  Many  of  the  old 
alumni  will  never  cease  to  remember  with  affection  his  pious  and 
amiable  character,  which  did  much  to  sustain  the  religious  spirit 
of  the  institution.  His  home  was  noted  for  its  hospitality  and 
good  cheer,  and  the  students  enjoyed  its  social  influences. 

In  1827  the  disadvantages  of  having  the  Seminary  in  a  town 
were  felt,  and  the  Trustees  determined  in  May  to  purchase  or 
erect,  near  Alexandria,  a  house  or  houses  large  enough  for  two 
professors  and  twenty  students.  In  June,  1827,  the  Committee  of 
the  Trustees  went  to  Alexandria,  and  after  careful  examination 
selected  the  present  site,  which,  "  on  account  of  the  healthiness  of 
its  atmosphere,  the  beauty  of  its  prospect,  and  its  many  conven- 
iences, has  given  universal  satisfaction."  It  contained  sixty-two 
acres  of  land,  half  of  it  cleared,  well  enclosed,  and  covered  with 
grass.  There  was  a  new  brick  dwelling-house,  with  out-build- 
ings. The  cost  was  five  thousand  dollars,  which  Mr.  John  Gray, 
of  Traveller's  Rest,  the  treasurer  and  liberal  benefactor  of  the 
Seminary,  kindly  advanced.  A  brick  house  of  three  stories,  hav- 
ing twelve  rooms  besides  basement,  affording  a  dining-room  and 
kitchen,  was  erected,  costing  three  thousand  dollars.  This  was 
the  south  wing  of  the  old  Seminary.  The  north  wing,  of  the 
same  size  and  at  the  same  cost,  was  added  some  years  later,  in 
1832,  and  afterwards  the  centre  and  connecting  building,  with  a 
small  cupola,  was  erected  for  five  thousand  dollars,  in  1835,  alto- 
gether thirty-six  rooms,  prayer-hall  and  refectory. 

In  the  fall  of  1827,  then,  the  Seminary  was  removed  from  Alex- 
andria to  "The  Hill",  255  feet  above  the  Potomac. 

G.  T.  Wilmer  remembers  his  trip  out  to  the  new  site  in  a  cart 


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Seminary  Hill.  85 

with  some  furniture.  It  was  in  the  spring  of  1828  when  Miss 
Mary  Dobson  and  he,  a  boy  of  nine  years,  took  their  seats  in  a 
cart  with  two  horses,  hitched  tandem,  and  journeyed  out.  Ex- 
cept in  pleasure-carriages,  I  think  horses  were  usually  hitched 
tandem  then,  and  not  abreast  as  now.  Miss  Mary  would  not  let 
him  return,  as  it  was  a  drizzling  evening,  but  put  him  in  care  of 
one  of  the  students,  who  arrayed  him  for  the  night  in  one  of  his 
garments.  That  student  was  Charles  Dresser,  a  graduate  of  1828, 
and  a  most  faithful  and  useful  minister.  A  mnemonic  associa- 
tion of  ideas  makes  Mr.  Dresser's  name  readily  recalled.  He  de- 
serves a  brief  mention.  Born  at  Pomfret,  Conn.,  February  24, 
1800,  he  graduated  at  Brown  University  in  1823,  and  went  to 
Virginia,  where  he  studied  theology.  He  went  in  1828,  immedi- 
ately after  ordination  to  Antrim  parish,  Halifax  county,  where 
he  labored  faithfully  and  successfully  for  ten  years.  He  married 
in  1832  Miss  Louisa  Withers  of  Dinwiddie  county.  In  1838  he 
removed  to  Springfield,  111.,  where  he  remained  twenty  years 
and  while  there  officiated  at  the  marriage  of  Mary  Todd  and 
Abraham  Lincoln,  November  4,  1842.  He  was  chosen  Professor 
of  Divinity  and  Belles-Lettres  in  Jubilee  College  in  1855,  and 
died  March  5,  1865. 

In  1827  eight  thousand  dollars  was  collected  for  the  purchase, 
and  for  the  first  building,  entirely  in  Virginia,  and  in  the  Vir- 
ginia Convention  Journal  of  1829  is  the  list  of  subscribers  with 
the  amounts,  which  is  very  interesting  reading  to  a  Virginian  who 
would  know  the  people  v/hose  descendants  are  still  in  the  old 
State. 

In  the  year  1829  the  Permanent  Fund  was  about  eleven  thou- 
sand dollars.  Everything  then  was  on  a  simpler,  less  costly  scale 
than  now.  Bishop  Moore  only  received  three  hundred  dollars  a 
year  for  his  services  as  Bishop,  having  besides  his  salary  as  rector 
of  Monumental  church.  The  professors  received  six  hundred, 
eight  hundred,  and  a  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  the  board  of 
students  then  was  fully  covered  by  seventy-five  dollars,  which  in 
Alexandria  had  cost  one  hundred  and  twelve  dollars  a  year.  The 
expenses  of  living  then  were  hardly  half  what  they  are  now  ;  gro- 
ceries were  cheap,  and  servants'  wages  small,  and  what  are  now 
considered  necessaries  were  then  luxuries,  and  the  numberless 
expenses  of  dress  now  were  then  much  fewer.  To  show  prices 
then,  one  subscription  to  the  Seminary  was  thirty  bushels  nf 
wheat,  estimated  at  thirty  dollars.     I  bought  a  bag  of  coffee  at 


86  Early  Alumni. 

nine  cents  a  pound.  Besides,  money  went  farther  then  than  now. 
It  was  said  that  General  Washington  once  threw  a  silver  dollar 
across  the  Rappahannock.  Chief-Justice  Coleridge  was  told  this 
and  was  inclined  to  doubt  the  fact,  but  was  reassured  on  being 
told  that  a  dollar  went  farther  in  those  days  than  it  did  now. 

Mr.  Gray  was  the  treasurer  of  the  Trustees  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Seminary,  and  gave  thousands  of  dollars  during  life 
and  at  his  death.  After  his  death  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  William 
Pollock,  gave  his  faithful  and  gratuitous  services  until  the  war. 
During  this  long  period,  for  thirty-one  years  of  which  the  institu- 
tion was  without  a  charter,  the  treasurers  used  such  care  and  judg- 
ment that  none  of  its  funds  were  lost. 

I  knew  only  a  few  of  the  graduates  of  1827  and  1828.  The 
Rev.  George  L,.  Mackenheimer  was  a  lovely  man,  affectionate, 
earnest  and  brave.  He  never  failed  to  speak  a  word  for  Jesus, 
when  many  would  have  shrunk  from  doing  so.  He  did  not  think 
it  intrusive  to  warn  the  heedless  or  to  encourage  the  timid  when 
it  was  needed.  Such  was  his  gentleness  and  tact  that  he  never 
gave  offense,  but  on  the  contrary  gained  respect,  and  did  good. 
He  lived  and  died  in  Maryland. 

Rev.  Dr.  Wheat,  whose  memory  is  still  fresh  and  fragrant  in 
this  Diocese,  after  more  than  forty  years,  at  the  time  of  our  semi- 
centennial, wrote  that  he  recalled  Dr.  Keith  as  to  saintliness  of 
character ;  as  to  Mr.  Lippitt,  modesty  ;  as  to  Dr.  Wilmer,  keen- 
ness and  power. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Brooke  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  and  when 
Bishop  Johns  was  rector  at  Frederick  he  was  a  bright  and  rising 
lawyer.  He  came  in  once  to  church,  rather  to  scoff  than  to  pray, 
but  was  converted  under  Mr.  Johns'  attractive  preaching,  and  be- 
came an  eminent  clergyman.  He  had  the  power  to  prepare  and 
arrange  even  the  very  language  of  an  elaborate  sermon,  and  with 
rare  eloquence  and  clearness  deliver  it  unwritten,  exactly  as  it  had 
been  prepared.  Bishop  Johns  alone  surpassed  him  in  this  rare 
gift.  Dr.  Brooke  labored  faithfully  in  Maryland  and  Ohio,  and 
died  full  of  faith.  He  was  the  father  of  Rev.  Pendleton  Brooke 
and  Right  Rev.  Francis  Key  Brooke,  Bishop  of  Oklahoma. 

The   Rev.  John  Grammer,  D.  D.  (father  of  our  Trustee,  Rev. 

James  Grammer,  D.  D),  was  one  of  the  most  faithful  and  true 

men,  and  one  who,  as  minister  and  trustee,  had  a  strong  influence. 

He  was  born  in  Virginia,  for  which  he  lived  and  labored  all  his 

life.     Except  for  a  few  years,  which  were  spent  in  the  parish  of 


Grammer  and  Boyden.  87 

the  pious  Devereux  Jarratt,  he  spent  his  ministry  in  one  cure, 
Antrim  parish,  Halifax  county,  where  his  name  is  still  remem- 
bered and  where  he  ministered  for  over  forty  years  to  different 
generations.  His  life  was  long  and  useful,  and  all  respected  and 
loved  him.  He  was  the  trusted  friend  and  confidant  of  Bishop 
Meade.  He  was  simple  and  self-denying.  He  expressly  asked 
that  no  "resolutions  "  should  be  passed  nor  eulogy  spoken  when 
he  was  dead.  He  died  full  of  years  and  rich  in  good  works  for 
Christ.  He  had  been  destined  for  the  bar,  and  his  connection 
with  such  people  as  the  Withers  and  Brodnax  families  and  his  own 
firm  character  and  abilities  promised  success.  When  he  decided 
to  enter  the  ministry  his  friends  expostulated  with  him,  but  could 
not  dissuade  him.  He  lived  some  time  in  the  home  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Wilmer  in  Alexandria. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Wing  was  often  spoken  of  by  Dr.  Sparrow,  who 
knew  him  at  Kenyon,  and  was  ordained  the  same  year.'  His 
name  was  striking— Marcus  Tullius  Cicero  Wing. 

The  Rev.  Ebenezer  Boyden,  born  in  Vermont  May  25,  1803, 
graduated  at  Yale  1825,  and  at  our  Seminary  in  1828,  was  rector 
of  Walker's  parish,  Albemarle  county,  Virginia,  for  forty-two 
years.  He  was  a  spiritually  minded  man  and  most  exemplary  in 
his  life  and  ministry.  Two  of  his  sons  entered  the  ministry,  Rev. 
D.  Hanson  Boyden,  who  died  in  the  morn  of  great  promise  of  use- 
fulness, and  Rev.  Peier  M.  Boyden,  now  laboring  faithfully  and 
successfully  in  Maryland. 

When  he  lived  in  Vermont,  his  family  had  been  Congregation- 
alists,  but  the  church  happened  to  be  vacant  once  when  a  minis- 
ter travelling  through  the  State  stopped  for  a  few  days  in  the 
neighborhood.  Being  asked  to  preach,  he  said,  "I  am  an 
Episcopalian  and  will  do  so,  if  you  will  use  my  service,  and  if 
some  will  learn  it. ' '  They  agreed  to  this,  and  he  instructed  them 
and  preached  twice.  They  were  so  much  pleased  they  asked  him 
to  stay  and  be  their  minister.  He  said  he  could  not  on  account 
of  other  engagements,  but  he  would  send  Bishop  Griswold.  He 
came  and  won  them  to  the  Church  and  the  Boyden  family  thus 
became  Episcopalians,  he  being  fifteen  years  old.  When  Rector 
of  St.  Paul's,  Norfolk,  the  hole  in  the  church  wall  where  the 
British  had  fired  a  cannon  ball  was  seen,  but  no  cannon  ball  had 
been  found.  Eearning  the  direction  of  the  shot,  he  hired  a  man, 
and  digging  deep  found  the  ball  and  had  it  placed  in  the  hole. 
The  site  chosen  for  the  Seminary  is  unsurpassed  for  beauty  and 


88  Seminary  Scenery. 

extent  of  prospect.  Where  could  there  have  been  found  a  better 
place  ?  Surely  the  hand  of  that  God  who  founded  the  hills 
directed  the  choice. 

What  a  glorious  amphitheatre  of  rural  scenery,  of  hill  and  dale, 
of  great  cities,  and  of  broad  river  flashing  in  the  sun  !  Said  the 
early  lost  and  long  lamented  Dudley  Tyng  :  "Its  location  has 
left  on  my  memory  an  impression  not  easily  forgotten.  It  over- 
looks the  undulating  valley  which  slopes  down  to  the  broad  and 
placid  Potomac.  At  its  foot  lies  the  town  of  Alexandria  and  in 
the  distance  the  cities  of  Washington  and  Georgetown,  sur- 
mounted by  the  lofty  dome  of  the  capitol.  On  the  right  the 
woodland  stretches  down  to  the  home  and  tomb  of  the  Father  of 
his  country.  From  the  cupola  keen  eyes  may  discover  the  three 
needle-points  of  the  first  mountain  range,  the  Blue  Ridge.  Amid 
such  a  scene  dwell  the  '  sons  of  the  prophets.'  Truly,  you  will 
say,  if  all  within  corresponds  to  all  without,  no  wonder  it  should 
be  remembered  with  longing  and  revisited  with  delight.  Just 
such  a  picture  as  surrounding  nature  painted  on  my  eye  have  its 
inner  scenes  imprinted  on  my  heart." 

Said  another  alumnus.  Bishop  Bedell,  "  I  never  again  expect  to 
rest  my  weariness  on  a  spot  of  earth  which  will  appear  so  much 
in  the  neighborhood  of  heaven.  It  always  seems  to  me  in  recol- 
lection a  land  of  Beulah,  a  little  way  to  the  fords  of  the  river  and 
the  gates  beyond,  where  angels  keep  their  ward.  From  this 
glorious  hill  we  readily  turn  to  look  above  to  the  city  which  hath 
foundations." 

Its  beautiful  grove  affords  place  for  retirement  and  meditation  : 

"  Wisdom's  self 
Oft  seeks  to  sweet,  retired  solitude 
Where  with  her  best  nurse,  meditation, 
She  plumes  her  feathers  and  lets  grow  her  wings." 

I  think  our  seminary  could  not  have  been  placed  in  a  better 
situation  than  just  here.  It  was  in  the  South,  so  as  to  enlist  the 
sympathies  of  the  Southern  Dioceses,  and  to  be  convenient  for 
their  candidates  in  days  when  traveling  was  difficult.  It  was 
near  Washington,  the  Capital  of  the  country,  and  so  in  touch  with 
the  national  life.  My  recollections  of  Washington  go  back  now 
sixty-five  years,  and  they  recall  a  very  different  state  of  things 
from  what  may  now  be  seen.  There  was  then  great  simplicity  of 
living,  and  the  city  had  very  few  of  its  present  beautiful  public 


Advantages  of  its  Position.  89 

buildings  or  private  palaces.  But  it  had  what  it  has  not  now  in  its 
Senate  and  House — men  who  would  make  any  city  or  State  noble 
and  distinguished.  To  see  and  hear  these  men  was  a  privilege, 
and  professors  and  students  had  this  great  advantage.  The 
Roman  Catholic  and  Methodist  Churches  have  within  the  last  few 
years  realized  the  importance  of  Washington  as  a  centre  of  influ- 
ence and  are  establishing  great  universities  there. 

Bishop  Meade  and  others  chose  wisely  in  selecting  our  beauti- 
ful and  commanding  Hill  for  the  Seminary.  If  they  could  only 
have  planned  and  executed  on  a  larger  scale,  securing  land  when 
so  low  and  proper  endowments,  we  might  have  been  able  to  do  a 
larger  work.  Some  have  thought  that  if  a  Church  college  could 
have  been  established  here,  to  complete  the  plan  of  the  High 
School  and  to  prepare  for  the  Seminary,  it  would  have  filled  a 
niche  that  is  now  empty  in  this  middle  section,  with  Trinity  Col- 
lege north  and  Sewanee  south.  Our  Preparatory  Department 
would  always  have  furnished  a  nucleus,  and  there  would  have 
been  many  who  would  have  preferred  a  Church  college  to  sending 
their  sons  to  the  universities  or  the  denominational  colleges. 
When  Bristol  College  failed,  if  we  might  have  taken  up  its  work, 
I  think  good  would  have  been  done.  Now  we  have  twenty-five 
or  more  men  being  educated  away,  who,  under  the  influence  of 
the  Seminary  and  the  Church  college,  would  have  found  more 
congenial  and  helpful  influences  than  anywhere  else.  It  may 
come  yet ;  but  started  sixty  years  ago,  its  work  and  usefulness 
would  have  been  very  great. 


CHAPTER  XL 

MY  FIRST  FRIENDS. 

ISHAIyly  Speak  particularly  of  my  first  class  in  the  Seminary, 
which  entered  with  me  in   1836.     There  were  six  members, 
though   two   more,  Noblitt   and   Stewart,  were  with   us  awhile. 
Their  names  were  James  A.  Buck,  William  H.  Kinckle,  William 
T.  Leavell,  Cleland  K.  Nelson,  John  J.  Scott,  Richard  H.  Wilmer. 
They  were  an  unusually  good  class,  I  remember,  all  being  men  of 
fine  abilities  and  excellent  training.     They  were  all  ordained  by 
Bishop  Moore,  and  all  (except  Bishop  Wilmer)  on  July  11,  1839, 
and  went  to  work  in  different  dioceses.     Fifty  years  rolled  slowly 
by  with  their  mighty  changes  in  Church  and  State,  and  five  of 
these  six  graduates  were  still  laboring  faithfully  in  the  vineyard, 
and  I  alone  of  their  professors  was  still  alive.     At  the  suggestion 
and  request  of  Rev.  Dr.  Buck,  rector  of  St.  Paul's,  Rock  Creek, 
D.  C,  we  met  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  ordination,  July  11, 
1889,  to  celebrate  their  jubilee.     Only  one  of  the  class  had  fallen 
asleep,  worn  out  by  his  untiring  labors.  Rev.  W.  H.  Kinckle,  of 
blessed  memory.     They  joined  together  in  the  service  and  sacra- 
ment of  love,  which  had  been  their  occupation   and  joy  for  fifty 
years.  Dr.  Nelson  making  the  address  on  this  rare  and  memorable 
occasion.     Afterwards  they  met  together  with  many  friends  for  a 
bountiful  collation  in  the  beautiful  rectory  grounds  of  Rock  Creek 
parish,  nearly  two  hundred  years  old. 

Five  years  later,  July  11,  1894,  all  but  one  of  us  met  again  at 
the  same  place,  four  out  of  six  remaining,  active  and  strong  for 
their  age,  Dr.  Nelson  having  dropped  from  the  ranks.  At  this 
fifty-eighth  anniversary  of  their  association  together,  the  four 
were  present  and  took  part  in  the  solemn  prayer  and  praise  to 
God,  who  had  granted  them  to  labor  for  and  with  Him  all  through 
the  long  day.  Bishop  Wilmer  made  the  address  and  told  of  the 
secret  of  peace  and  power  in  the  service  and  following  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  with  the  rector  administered  the  Holy  Communion  to 
a  large  congregation. 

I  spoke  of  the  remarkable  and  unparelleled  case,  that  after 
fifty-eight  years  of  work  and  friendship,  five  out  of  seven  should 
be  present  in  good  health  to  celebrate  the  anniversary  ;    and  I 

90 


My  First  Ci^ass.  91 

dwelt  on  the  rewards  of  such  faithful  ministry.  The  Rev.  Dr, 
Elliott,  of  Washington,  followed,  with  some  happy  and  pleasant 
remarks,  comparing  the  four  veterans  to  the  four  winds,  the  four 
evangelists  and  the  four  creatures  of  Revelation  ;  and  Bishop 
Wilmer  closed  with  the  blessing.  An  offering  was  made,  and  it 
is  intended  to  place  in  the  Virginia  Seminary  some  memorial  of 
this  wonderful  event  of  the  class  of  1839.  Out  of  the  sixteen 
classes  before  them  only  four  graduates  then  survived,  while 
whole  classes  after  them  have  died ;  only  four  graduates,  up  to 
1845,  now  remain. 

We  can  recall  no  such  wonderful  thing  as  this,  that  in  a 
fleeting  and  changing  world,  after  fifty-eight  years  of  association 
in  the  same  work,  two-thirds  of  the  class  should  meet  with  one- 
third  of  their  teachers,  and  all  active  and  in  fair  health  ;  or  that 
after  fifty-three  years,  five-sixths  of  the  class  should  survive,  as 
was  the  case  a  few  years  ago.  Truly  they  can  say  with  the 
Psalmist,  "  I  have  been  young  and  now  am  old,  and  yet  saw  I 
never  the  righteous  forsaken." 

The  members  of  this  class  have  been  well-known  and  devoted 
ministers  in  the  Church,  apart  from  the  wonderful  length  of  ser- 
vice ;  the  Rev.  James  A.  Buck,  D.  D.,  had  been  for  forty-one 
years  rector  of  Rock  Creek  Parish,  D.  C,  and  endeared  himself 
to  all  who  knew  him  by  a  holy,  devoted  life  and  ministry.  The 
parish  under  him  has  grown  and  flourished  and  is  now  stronger 
than  ever,  though  all  around  new  parishes  have  been  formed.  He 
was  also  chaplain  of  the  Soldiers'  Home  near  by,  where  iie  was 
much  beloved,  and  he  headed  the  official  list  of  the  clergy  of  the 
Diocese,  having  spent,  I  believe,  nearly  his  whole  life  therein. 
He  died  in  the  early  autumn  of  1897,  having  been  more  than 
fifty-eight  years  in  active  ministry.  He  was  succeeded  by  his 
cousin.  Rev.  Charles  E.  Buck,  an  alumnus  of  our  Seminary,  and 
an  influential  member  of  the  Diocese. 

The  Rev.  W.  H.  Kinckle,  after  loving,  faithful  service,  mostly 
spent  in  Lynchburg,  passed  away  after  too  brief  a  ministry,  leav- 
ing a  name  and  memory  that  still  survive  after  more  than  a  gener- 
ation have  gone. 

The  Rev.  W.  T.  Leavell  did  faithful  service  in  West 
Virginia,  spending  nearly  all  of  his  life  in  one  section, 
where  he  was  respected  and  beloved  by  all.  Born  Septem- 
ber   II,     1814,    in    Spottsylvania   county,    Virginia,    he    early 


92  Class  of  1839. 

felt  the  call  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  for  sixty  years  he 
faithfully  proclaimed  its  message.  He  preached  his  last  sermon 
about  two  months  before  his  death.  The  Diocese  of  West  Vir- 
ginia was  dear  to  him,  and  he  exclaimed  shortly  before  dying,  "  I 
wish  I  had  another  life  to  give  to  the  Church  in  West  Virginia." 
In  his  character  were  combined  gentleness,  cheerfulness, 
humility,  devotion  to  duty  and  unselfishness.  The  epitaph  he 
liked  best  was,  "  He  lived  for  others."  He  passed  to  his  reward 
August  25,  1899.  The  Church  mourned  with  him  over  the  death 
of  his  son,  the  Rev.  Francis  K.  lycavell,  a  few  years  ago,  after  a 
short  but  devoted  ministry  among  the  poor. 

The  Rev.  C.  K.  Nelson,  D.  D.,  was  well  known  in  the  Church 
at  large  as  an  eloquent  preacher,  and  as  deeply  interested  in 
higher  education,  which  he  did  much  to  advance.  I  never 
knew  him  very  well,  for  he  .spent  most  of  his  life  in  Mary- 
land, as  Rector  of  St.  Anne's  Church,  Annapolis,  as  sixth 
President  of  St.  John's  College,  Annapolis,  1857-61,  and  later  as 
Principal  of  Rockville  Academy,  Maryland.  He  was  a  Greek 
and  Latin  scholar,  and  a  very  able  writer. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Scott  was  for  many  years  rector  of  Christ  Church, 
Pensacola,  and  after  long  and  useful  service  came  to  Washington 
to  live  as  rector  emerittis.  He  wrote  me,  "  I  have  always  felt  grate- 
ful for  the  thoroughness  and  accuracy  of  the  foundation  you  laid 
in  my  mind  of  Biblical  learning.  I  have  often  called  to  re- 
membrance for  my  example  and  guidance  your  heart  of  love  and 
gentleness  of  manner.  Dr.  Lippitt  took  me  to  his  heart  and  made 
my  visits  to  his  family  very  pleasant.  Dr.  Keith  said  to  me  on 
parting,  '  Never  give  up  the  study  of  Metaphysics.'  " 

The  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Richard  H.  Wilmer,  late  Bishop  of  Ala- 
bama, was  an  early  and  life  long  friend,  whose  noble  heart,  kindly 
wit  and  calm  wisdom  were  unsurpassed. 

He  lived  on  a  farm  at  Lebanon  near  the  Seminary  with  his 
stepmother  and  rode  down  to  lectures  often  with  his  trousers 
stuffed  in  his  top  boots.  His  studies  were  much  interrupted,  but 
he  came  to  us  with  a  reputation  as  a  graduate  of  Yale  College, 
class  of  1836.  I  heard  his  first  sermon,  which  was  full  of  rhetori- 
cal figures  and  flowery.  Dr.  Keith  objected  to  it  on  this  ground, 
but  Wilmer  said  in  reply,  "  You  know  when  you  turn  a  young  colt 
out  he  wants  to  run  and  kick  up  his  heels  ;  when  he  gets  older  he 
gets  more  steady,  so  with  my  style,  it  will  quiet  down." 


Bishop  Richard  Wilmer.  93 

He  was  a  great  preacher  and  made  every  where  a  deep  and  power- 
ful impression,  for  he  had  a  persuasive  and  charming  voice,  a  beau- 
tiful style  and  always  clear  and  strong  thought,  illuminated  by 
imagination  and  illustration.  I  heard  him  preach  in  the  Seminary 
Chapel  in  October,  1897,  with  great  delight,  and  his  voice  and 
energetic  delivery  were  remarkable.  A  physician  in  New  York 
after  hearing  him  said,  "  I  have  spiritual  food  to  last  me  a  week." 
At  the  burial  of  Rev.  Dr.  Minnegerode  he  recited  most  beautifully 
the  hymn,  "  I  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  say." 

His  wit  and  wisdom  made  him  most  charming,  and  a  volume 
would  be  needed  to  set  them  forth.  A  brother  clergyman,  great 
in  genealogy,  wrote  him  he  had  traced  back  his  descent  to  David, 
and  hoped  to  go  back  further.  Bishop  Wilmer  wrote  him  that  at 
his  time  of  life  he  was  more  interested  in  whither  he  was  going 
than  where  he  came  from,  and  he  hoped  to  get  to  Abraham's 
bosom. 

His  last  days  and  hours  were  brightened  by  a  serene  strong 
faith,  which  was  shown  in  the  wit  with  which  he  spoke,  so  natural 
to  him,  and  showing  no  fear  of  death,  but  perfect  confidence  in 
God.  His  sister  married  my  early  friend,  Rev.  R.  T.  Brown,  class 
of  1838,  who  was  of  unusual  talent  as  a  writer  and  of  choice  taste. 
He  spent  his  last  years  in  Rockville,  where  his  preaching  was 
greatly  admired.  A  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
Stales,  hearing  Mr.  Brown  preach  there,  expressed  the  greatest 
admiration,  and  thought  he  had  never  heard  a  greater  sermon. 

Bishop  Wilraer's  son.  Dr.  William  H.  Wilmer,  the  eminent 
oculist  of  Washington,  is  carrying  on  for  the  physical  faculties  the 
same  work  that  his  noble  grandfather,  Dr.  W.  H.  Wilmer,  did  for 
the  spiritual  powers  of  the  people  of  Washington  and  Alexandria, 
Asking  his  father  not  long  ago  where  he  should  build  his  new 
house  and  office,  the  Bishop  said  :  "  My  son,  there  are  only  two 
suitable  places,  C  street  or  I  street."    The  son  chose  I  street. 

The  Rev.  Reuel  Keith,  D.  D.,  was  the  first  professor  of  the 
Serqinary,  and  for  twenty  years  he  was  its  main  teacher,  and  the 
Seminary  was  fortunate  in  getting  such  a  man,  to  stamp  upon  it 
a  character  which  it  has  never  lost.  Born  in  Vermont,  from  early 
childhood  he  was  passionately  fond  of  books.  In  Troy,  New 
York,  where  he  was  clerk  in  a  store  in  his  boyhood,  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  fitted  himself  for  col- 
lege at  St.  Albans  and  entered  Middlebury  College  in  1811,  and, 


94  Professor  Reuei,  Keith. 

after  being  at  the  head  of  all  his  classes,  graduated  with  the  high- 
est honors.  He  was  baptized  by  Dr.  Henshaw  and  became  an 
earnest  Christian.  Coming  to  Virginia  on  account  of  his  health, 
for  the  doctors  said  he  had  a  large  hole  in  his  lungs,  he  became  a 
tutor,  which  was  a  very  common  thing  then,  nearly  all  the  teach- 
ers being  from  the  North.  He  acted  as  la}^  reader  in  King  George 
county,  and  this  report  was  made  to  the  Convention  :  ' '  The  spirit 
of  religion  is  reviving  under  Mr.  Keith,  who  has  large  congrega- 
tions." He  returned  to  Vermont  and  was  tutor  for  his  alma  mater. 
He  then  studied  for  the  ministry  under  Dr.  Henshaw,  in  Brook- 
lyn, and  later  as  resident  graduate  at  Andover.  He  came  to  Alex- 
andria and  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Moore  in  St.  Paul's, 
Alexandria,  in  1817.  He  at  once  became  assistant  to  the  Rev. 
Walter  D.  Addison  at  St.  John's,  Georgetown,  where  his  ministry 
was  so  successful  that  a  new  church,  Christ  Church,  was  built,  of 
which  he  was  the  rector  for  one  year.  After  staying  two  years  at 
Williamsburg,  as  rector  of  Bruton  parish  and  Theological  Profes- 
sor at  William  and  Mary,  he  was,  after  a  short  stay  in  Vermont, 
brought  back  to  Virginia  in  1823,  and  from  that  time  till  his  death, 
in  1842,  was  professor  here.  He  was  deeply  interested  in  Hengs- 
tenberg's  Christology  and  learned  German  thoroughly  in  order  to 
translate  it.  A  bookseller  in  Alexandria  undertook  to  publish  it, 
but  it  had  to  be  printed  at  Andover,  and  I  saw  it  through  the 
press  for  him  in  1836,  just  before  coming  to  the  Seminary.  This 
work  did  honor  to  our  Church  and  is  a  most  admirable  transla- 
tion. As  soon  as  I  arrived  here  I  went  to  see  him  and  was  heart- 
ily welcomed.  I  spent  my  first  evening  at  his  house,  and  we 
talked  until  late  in  the  night,  not  noticing  the  flight  of  time.  I 
boarded  with  him  for  a  year,  having  my  room  at  the  Seminary, 
and  derived  great  profit  from  my  association  with  him. 

He  had  the  power  of  abstraction  in  a  very  high  degree — the 
highest  of  all  mental  powers — and  he  would  become  so  absorbed 
in  his  subject  as  to  forget  everything  else.  Thus  he  was  very 
strong  intellectually  and  was  a  master  of  what  he  had  studied. 
Everything  he  read  and  saw  and  heard  he  put  into  his  own  cru- 
cible, tested  it,  and  laid  it  away  for  future  use.  This  was  the  se- 
cret of  his  wonderful  command  of  all  his  resources.  He  was  a 
many-sided  man,  great  in  the  lecture-room  and  in  the  pulpit,  and 
there  were  other  sides  of  his  character  equally  pleasing.  He  was 
an  excellent  and  accurate  scholar  and  thoroughly  understood  the 
Hebrew,  Greek,  L,atin  and  German  languages,  as  his  translation 


Dr.  Keith's  Sermons.  95 

of  Hengstenberg's  Christology  shows.  He  was  a  man  of  tall  but 
stooping  figure,  with  a  noble  forehead  and  piercing  eye.  He  was, 
as  Bishop  Meade  says,  a  most  eloquent  preacher,  and  the  most 
earnest  one  I  have  ever  heard,  and  he  made  a  great  impression  on 
the  students  with  his  "  blood  earnestness,"  as  Chalmers  says. 
There  was  a  glowing  sense  of  the  Divine  presence  on  him  which 
moved  others.  He  was  much  sought  after  to  preach  at  Associa- 
tions ;  at  Conventions  he  was  often  heard  with  delight,  and  was 
thought  the  best  preacher  in  the  State.  His  manner  of  reading 
ths  Psalter  and  the  Prayers,  especially  the  I^itany,  was  remark- 
ably fervent  and  impassioned.  He  prayed  the  service  throughout 
as  I  have  never  heard  any  one  else  do. 

His  voice  was  very  good,  silvery  and  penetrating,  awe-inspir- 
ing. His  mode  of  preparation  for  the  pulpit,  when  I  knew  him, 
was  to  look  over  one  of  his  old  sermons  and  then  to  give  its  sub- 
stance, with  any  new  thought  he  had,  without  notes.  I  never 
knew  him  to  write  a  new  sermon  in  the  six  years  of  our  associa- 
tion. 

Bishop  Smith  bears  witness  to  the  impression  made  on  him  by 
the  solemn  earnestness  of  Dr.  Keith's  piety,  by  the  ferv^or  of  his 
devotion,  and  by  the  richness  of  instruction,  the  solidity  of  argu- 
ment and  the  force  of  delivery  of  his  sermons,  riveting  the  atten- 
tion of  all  who  ever  heard  him,  and  producing  powerful  eflFects. 
He  was  a  moderate  Calvinist.  A  slight  infusion  of  Calvinism, 
like  sugar  in  a  cup  of  tea,  might  by  a  discriminating  person  be 
perceived  in  his  sermons.  When  a  student  on  one  occasion,  after 
Dr.  Keith  had  presented  the  Calvinistic  view  of  a  subject,  said  to 
him,  "When,  Doctor,  are  we  to  have  the  other  side?"  he 
answered,   "  There  is  no  other." 

I  will  give  an  extract  from  a  New  Year's  sermon  of  his  which 
was  published  by  request  of  the  students,  January,  1840  : 

"  Pause,  I  beseech  you,  and  reflect  deeply  and  solemnly  on  the 
nature,  the  greatness,  and  the  eternity  of  this  salvation,  that  the 
thought  of  its  nearness  may  forever  dispel  the  slumbers  of  your 
immortal  spirits.  It  is  a  salvation  which  interested  the 
affections  and  occupied  the  councils  of  the  holy,  blessed 
and  glorious  Trinity  before  the  foundations  of  the  world 
were  laid,  and  which  were  deemed  of  sufficient  impor- 
tance in  the  sight  of  God,  to  be  accomplished  at  no  less 
expense  than  the  incarnation,  sufferings  and  death  of  His 
only  begotten  Son.     It  is  the  salvation  of  a  rational,  accountable 


96  A  New  Year's  Sermon. 

and  immortal  being,  of  boundless  capacity  for  enjoyment  or  suf- 
fering ;  a  salvation  which  rescues  him  from  all  that  is  evil,  and 
confers  upon  him  all  that  is  good,  through  the  whole  extent  of 
his  never-ending  existence  ;  for  it  delivers  him  from  the  curse  of 
God  and  makes  him  the  object  of  His  everlasting  love.  It  is  a 
salvation  so  great  and  glorious  that  every  instance  of  its  being  se- 
cured by  one  of  our  fallen  race  heightens  the  happiness  even  of 
heaven  itself;  '  for  there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the 
holy  angels  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.'  It  is  a  salvation 
which  God  has  accomplished  for  us  expressly  in  order  that  He 
might  show  in  the  ages  to  come  to  an  admiring,  adoring  and  re- 
joicing universe  what  His  almighty  love  can  do,  and  what  is  the 
exceeding  riches  of  His  grace  in  his  kindness  toward  us  through 
Christ  Jesus." 

Dr.  Keith  was  very  fond  of  horses  and  spent  much  of  his  leisure 
in  riding  or  driving.  He  was  much  given  to  exchanging  them, 
in  which  he  generally  got  the  worst  of  the  bargain.  He  would 
spend  his  vacations  driving  over  a  good  part  of  New  England  in 
a  yellow  carry-all  with  two  horses,  one  probably  a  large,  bony, 
grey  horse,  and  the  other  a  small  sorrel.  He  never  paid  much 
attention  to  appearances.  I  borrowed  one  of  his  horses,  the  sorrel, 
to  ride  on  horseback  with  him  to  L,eesburg,  he  on  the  grey,  to  the 
consecration  of  the  new  church  there.  On  our  return,  in  company 
with  Bishop  Meade,  we  stopped  at  a  wayside  inn,  half-way  between 
Ivcesburg  and  Alexandria.  The  Bishop  deliberately  drew  a  chair 
to  the  corner  of  the  room  and  began  to  shave  himself  without  a 
glass,  a  thing  I  have  never  seen  done,  before  or  since. 

Dr.  Keith  was  of  a  very  nervous  temperament,  moody  and  sub- 
ject to  fits  of  depression,  but  on  recovering  from  them  he  would 
be  in  very  high  spirits.  From  the  time  I  knew  him  he  would 
often  sit  for  days  together  in  his  house  without  saying  a  word, 
and  leaning  his  head  upon  the  back  of  his  chair.  In  1840  he  lost 
his  wife,  who  was  his  right  hand  and  his  right  eye,  and  he  was 
very  uncomfortable  at  home.  In  the  next  spring,  after  being  sick 
all  the  winter  and  very  miserable,  he  became  melancholy  and 
thought  he  was  lost.  Rev.  Carter  Page,  one  of  the  noblest  men 
I  have  known,  the  brother  of  Rev.  James  J.  Page,  went  with  Dr. 
Keith  on  a  trip  South,  as  there  was  no  one  else  to  go.  When 
traveling  on  the  stage  Dr.  Keith  addressed  a  man  who  was  swear- 
ing and  warned  him  to  escape  eternal  damnation,  to  embrace  now 


Dr.  Keith's  Sayings.  97 

the  salvation  ofiered  him,  saying  :  "  You  can  do  it  now,  but  as  for 
me,  it  is  too  late;  there  is  no  hope  for  me."  Though  his  sun 
went  down  here  in  clouds  and  gloom,  it  rose  in  glory  on  the  other 
side,  when  he  reached  the  city  of  which  the  Lamb  is  the  light. 
This  phase  of  his  life  reminds  me  remarkably  of  the  poet  Cowper, 
and  of  the  lines  written  On  Cowper's  Grave  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  B. 
Browning. 

"  Oh  Christians  !  at  your  cross  of  hope,  a  hopeless  haud  was  clinging  ! 

O  men  !  this  man  in  brotherhood  your  weary  paths  beguiling. 

Groaned  inly  while  he  taught  you  peace,  and  died  while  ye  were  smiling  !  " 

His  melancholia  has  been  sometimes,  but  unjustly,  ascribed  to 
his  religious  views.  Religion  was  with  him  the  great  and 
absorbing  subject ;  and  just  as  a  rich  man  when  insane  becomes 
fearful  of  poverty,  so  Dr.  Keith  when  his  mind  was  thrown  off  its 
balance  feared  that  he  was  lost. 

Philip  Slaughter,  when  a  student,  thinking  that  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity  knew  everything  in  the  Bible  asked  Dr.  Keith  one  day 
what  was  meant  by  "the  whole  creation  groaneth."  With  his 
usual  simplicity  he  replied,  "I  don't  know;  I  never  did  know 
what  that  verse  meant." 

He  lived  in  the  house  next  to  the  chapel,  and  his  was  the  first 
door  on  the  Hill  at  which  I  knocked. 

A  student,  visiting  across  the  Potomac,  had  his  mind  diverted 
from  his  studies.  He  once  called  on  Dr.  Keith,  and  asked  if  he 
would  explain  how  mind  could  be  affected  by  matter.  The  doctor 
said  he  could  not,  but  added,  "  There  seems  to  be  a  little  matter 
over  in  Maryland  that  affects  your  mind  very  much." 

Someone  asked  him  what  was  the  greatest  sin  a  man  could  com- 
mit.    "  Defacing  a  mile  post,"  was  his  reply. 

A  student  reciting  in  Butler's  Analogy  said,  "  Oh,  Doctor,  I 
have  detected  a  flaw  in  Butler's  reasoning."  "Then  you  have 
caught  a  weasel  asleep,"  said  the  Doctor.  Something  was  said 
about  the  Deluge  and  the  Ark,  and  a  student  'asked,  "  Doctor, 
what  became  of  the  fish?"  He  answered,  "Fine  time  for  the 
fish,  Mr. ." 

Even  in  his  gloomy  days  he  was  logical.  A  student  with  a  bad 
complexion  and  sickly  look  remarked  to  him  bewailing  his  poor 
health,  "Why,  Doctor,  you  don't  look  very  badly,  you  don't 
look  worse  than  I  do."  He  replied,  "You  are  looking  very 
badly,  Mr. ." 


98  J.  C.  Wheat. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Wheat,  D.  D.,  is  just  my  age  and  is  a  wonderful 
instance  of  activity  in  old  age.  He  is  by  fourteen  years  the  old- 
est living  alumnus  of  Kenyon  College,  Ohio,  where  he  graduated 
and  soon  after  ordination  he  devoted  his  life  to  the  training  of  the 
young,  but  always  exercised  his  ministry  when  called  on.  He 
never  received  a  salary  from  any  parish,  but  gave  his  services 
freely  and  in  Lynnwood  parish  where  he  spent  the  last  fifteen 
years  he  baptized  nearly  all  the  children  and  buried  all  the  dead. 
When  Vice-President  of  the  Virginia  Female  Institute  he  lived  in 
Staunton  and  on  Sundays  officiated  at  Boyden  Chapel,  six  miles, 
and  at  Port  Republic,  twenty-two  miles  distant,  riding  or  walk- 
ing those  distances  winter  and  summer,  no  matter  what  the 
weather.  In  his  ninetieth  year  he  drove  five  miles  to  bury  the 
dead.  Like  Mr.  Leavell  from  seventy-six  to  eighty-four  years  of  age 
he  preached  twice  every  Sunday,  and  was  besides  superintendent 
and  teacher  in  the  Sunday  School  until  he  was  eighty-nine.  [Dr. 
Wheat  died  August  12.  1902,  after  three  days'  illness. — Ed.] 

Rev.  Henry  W.  L.  Temple  (1841)  was  a  man  of  noble  character 
and  gained  a  most  extraordinary  influence  not  only  over  his  flock, 
but  his  community,  in  worldly  as  well  as  in  spiritual  matters.  He 
spent  his  whole  ministerial  life  in  one  parish  in  Essex  County. 
A  tender,  faithful  pastor,  a  wise  counsellor,  an  exemplary  Christian 
he  was  greatly  beloved  by  all,  dying  in  1870. 

I  may  here  speak  of  the  Rev.  Edward  C.  McGuire,  elder  brother 
of  Rev.  J.  P.  McGuire,  so  well  known  to  our  older  clergy,  but  re- 
membered now  by  very  few.  Born  in  July,  1793,  he  grew  up, 
having  "  religious  emotions  "  when  ten  or  twelve  years  old,  but 
with  no  one  to  guide  or  counsel  him  in  religion  save  his  pious 
mother.  At  eighteen  he  began  to  study  law,  and  was  then  very 
fond  of  worldly  amusements.  He  had  visitations  of  the  Spirit 
and  was  led  to  pray  earnestly  for  several  months,  but  relapsed  into 
sin.  In  his  nineteenth  year  he  determined  to  be  a  Christian.  "  It 
pleased  the  gracious  God,"  he  said,  "  to  visit  me  again  with  the 
powerful  influence  of  His  Holy  Spirit.  It  was  instantaneous  and 
sudden  as  a  flash  of  lightning  from  the  clouds.  It  was  unsought, 
the  free  and  unmerited  gift  of  a  gracious  God.  Praise  the  Lord, 
O  my  soul  !  "  The  outward  circumstances  of  this  change  are  said 
to  be  these.  There  was  to  be  a  large  "  assembly  "  ball  in  Win- 
chester, which  he,  in  spite  of  difficulties,  determined  to  attend. 
He  started  in  fine  spirits  and  full  of  joyful  anticipations.  A  cloud 
rose  rapidly,  and  a  pouring  rain  forced  him  to  take  shelter  under 


Edward  McGuire.  99 

a  tree.  An  instant  after  a  stroke  of  lightning  shivered  the  tree, 
and  that,  strange  to  say,  without  even  stunning  him.  Instead  of 
going  on  to  Winchester  he  returned  home,  and  from  that  hour  the 
gay  pleasures  of  the  world  were  nothing  in  his  eyes.  In  January, 
1812,  he  went  to  Alexandria  to  study  under  Rev.  William  Meade, 
as  there  were  no  seminaries  at  that  time.  In  April,  1812,  he 
writes,  "  I  first  communed,  not  haviyig  had  a7i  opportunity  before,  ^^ 
showing  the  destitution  of  religious  privileges.  "  I  now  began," 
he  adds,  "  to  rejoice  greatly  in  the  Lord."  Mr.  Meade  leaving 
soon  after,  he  studied  under  Rev.  W,  H.  Wilmer,  rector  of  St. 
Paul's.  In  September,  1812,  he  removed  to  Baltimore,  where  he 
studied  one  year,  and  September,  18 13,  he  was  called  to  Freder- 
icksburg as  lay-reader,  and  as  rector  as  soon  as  he  was  ordained. 
This  was  on  August  4,  18 14,  by  Bishop  Moore,  being  his  first  or- 
dination. The  state  of  the  Church  in  Fredericksburg  was  most 
discouraging  and  might  have  daunted  a  braver  heart.  He  writes  : 
"  I  commenced  a  career  most  unpromising  in  the  estimation  of 
men.  But  the  God  of  my  salvation  was  with  me.  .  .  A  work 
of  grace  quickly  commenced  in  the  Church.  Souls  were  converted 
to  God,  and,  aided  by  their  prayers,  we  began  to  lift  up  our  heads 
and  pursue  our  work  with  increased  diligence  and  strength."  No 
one  can  .sum  up  the  results  of  his  ministry  in  this,  his  only  charge, 
and  only  the  day  of  judgment  will  reveal  all  that  was  due  to  his 
faithful  preaching,  his  holy  example  and  his  untiring  labors. 
Few  have  had  a  stay  so  long  and  useful  in  one  place.  Forty-five 
years  did  he  spend  in  that  one  parish  !  His  ministry  did  not  lose, 
but  gained  in  strength  the  longer  it  continued.  Some  men  may 
spend  a  brief  ministry  in  a  place  with  eclat  for  their  stirring  ser- 
mons and  energetic  work.  Here  was  a  man  who  started  at  twenty 
as  lay-reader,  and  continued  nearly  a  half  century,  as  Bishop 
Meade  says,  "with  a  succession  of  revivals,  or  rather  a  continued 
one,  under  faithful  evangelical  preaching,  with  two  new  churches, 
each  increasing  in  size  and  expense,  called  for,  and  with  several 
young  ministers  going  forth  from  this  parish.  Among  them  was 
Rev.  Launcelot  Minor,  whose  remains  are  on  the  African  shore, 
alongside  of  those  of  Mrs.  Susan  Savage,  the  devoted  missionary, 
whose  spiritual  birthplace  was  St.  George's  Church."  There 
have  been  but  few  such  cases  in  our  Communion,  and  the  papers 
mentioned  the  golden  jubilee  of  Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs  in  Brook- 
lyn as  unusual. 


loo  Revivai^  under  McGuire. 

Dr.  McGuire  not  only  built  up  his  own  parish,  but  went  through 
Spottsylvania,  StafiFord,  Essex,  Caroline,  Culpeper  and  Orange 
counties  preaching  and  visiting.  Once  in  Caroline  with  Revs. 
J.W.  Cooke  and  John  P.  McGuire,  about  fourteen  hundred  people 
gathered  on  Sunday,  crowding  the  church  and  filling  the  yard. 
Great  feeling  was  shown  and  many  tears  were  shed,  and  souls 
were  saved. 

In  1 83 1  there  was  a  special  awakening,  of  which  I  have  often 
heard.  There  was  simple,  earnest  preaching  of  the  gospel,  but 
the  interest  spread  from  soul  to  soul  till  about  sixty  were  changed. 
Still  greater  was  the  religious  interest  in  1858.  Though  no  spe- 
cial means  were  used,  and  the  pastor's  infirmities  hindered  him, 
yet  as  a  result  of  the  revival  eighty-eight  persons  were  confirmed, 
of  every  age  and  calling,  male  and  female. 

I  often  saw  Dr.  McGuire,  who  was  a  true  friend  of  the  Semi- 
nary and  visited  it  often.  He  told  me  that  he  was  once  on  a 
wharf  with  Bishop  Moore.  An  Irish  porter  passing  by  with  a 
trunk  hit  against  the  Bishop,  who  struck  him  with  his  umbrella. 
The  porter  laid  down  the  trunk  and  came  to  settle  with  the  Bishop, 
who  edged  behind  Dr.  McGuire,  as  he  was  very  tall  and  large. 
I  can  see  him  now  as  he  represented  the  scene.  I  spent  a  night 
at  Dr.  McGuire's  and  was  put  in  the  same  room  with  Bishop 
Meade.     In  the  morning  when  he  woke  up  he  began  to  talk  about 

his  clergy,  spoke  of  poor  Mr. ,  who  had  a  large  family  and 

needed  help.  He  gave  $400  one  year  to  a  minister  who  was  with- 
out work,  and  was  always  thinking  of  his  clergy,  and  spending 
himself  for  them.  He  stinted  himself  that  he  might  have  to  give 
to  others. 

Dr.  McGuire  published  a  volume  on  "  The  Religious  Opinions 
and  Character  of  Washington."  He  wrote  many  of  the  reports 
on  the  State  of  the  Church  in  our  journals.  His  great  experience, 
sound  judgment  and  pure  character  gave  him  great  weight  in  our 
Conventions,  and  he  was  often  a  deputy  to  General  Convention. 
In  July,  1858,  Alfred  M.  Randolph,  now  Bishop  of  Southern 
Virginia,  who  had  just  graduated,  was  secured  for  his  assistant, 
as  his  health  was  failing.  On  Friday,  October  8th,  just  after 
dressing  to  visit  some  parishoners,  he  dropped  dead.  He  was 
just  sixty-five,  not  old  as  we  now  think,  but  he  had  done  much 
for  his  Master.  The  burial  was  attended  by  a  vast  concourse. 
Bishop  Johns  made  a  beautiful  address,  and  he  passed,  we  believe, 
to  a  glorious  reward. 


Thomas  E.  L,ocke.  ioi 

Rev.  Thomas  E.  lyocke  was  born  the  same  month  and  year  as 
I  was  and  had  the  room  next  to  me  at  the  Seminary  mv  first  and 
his  last  year.  We  were  thrown  together  very  much  and  enjoyed 
a  long  and  valued  friendship  for  sixty  years. 

His  life  was  spent  in  Virginia,  and  his  recollection  of  persons 
and  things  was  very  vivid.  I  wish  he  could  have  written  his 
reminiscences.  He  told  me  a  curious  thing.  He  married  a  man 
and  received  twenty  dollars  ;  he  buried  that  wife  and  was  handed 
thirty  dollars.  Not  long  after  he  married  him  again  and  he  gave 
him  ten  dollars.  On  burying  that  wife  he  received  the  same 
amount.  When  he  came  to  marry  him  again,  the  man  remarked 
to  some  one,  "  Mr.  Eocke  will  break  me  yet."  Mr.  Locke  told 
me  the  students  at  Kenyon  sometimes  threw  the  butter  out  of 
doors,  and  he  said  the  tea  was  execrable  because  a  tallow  candle 
was  held  over  the  kettle  to  see  that  the  quantity  was  right  and 
tallow  dropped  in.  Bishop  Chase  reproved  them  and  told  them  if 
they  did  so  again,  he  would  say,  "Take  up  thy  bed  and  walk." 
Eocke  was  one  of  thirty  students  there  and  graduated. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
LIFE  IN  VIRGINIA. 

IN  the  summer  of  1837,  after  our  session  had  closed  on  July 
15th,  Rev.  Philip  Slaughter,  rector  of  Christ  Church,  George- 
town, asked  me  to  go  with  him  to  the  White  Sulphur  Springs.  I 
was  very  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of  seeing  something  of 
Virginia.  We  started  at  5  A.  M.  on  the  stage  to  Warrenton 
Springs,  which  we  reached  that  night.  Often  one  had  to  wait  days 
to  get  a  seat,  the  stages  being  full.  We  stopped  for  some  days  at 
the  house  of  his  father,  Captain  Slaughter,  a  distinguished  officer 
of  the  Revolution,  whose  daughter  afterwards  lived  on  the  Hill, and 
remembered  my  visit  and  some  remarks  sixty  years  before.  He 
was  then  living  with  a  widowed  daughter,  and  offered  me  his  easy- 
going riding  horse  to  use.  He  had  been  closely  associated  with 
Chief  Justice  Marshall,  as  Marshall  served  under  him  in  the  war, 
and  was,  he  said,  a  splendid  soldier.  The  Chief  Justice  had  died  a 
short  time  before.  I  used  to  dine  with  his  son,  James  Keith  Mar- 
shall, when  I  preached  in  Alexandria,  I  remember  that  blackber- 
ries were  not  eaten  then,  but  were  thought  fit  only  for  hogs,  and 
tomatoes  were  rarely  used.  We  went  on  to  Charlottesville,  where 
I  met  Revs.  Richard  K.  Meade  and  Joseph  Wilmer,  afterward 
Bishop  of  Louisiana.  Wilmer  had  just  published  a  sermon  on 
"Great   Men  who  have  become  Christians,"  and  he  gave  me  a 

copy. 

We  met  Professor  Gessner  Harrison  at  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, which  was  then  only  twelve  years  old.  There  was  at  that 
time  quite  a  lack  of  discipline  and  method,  it  seemed  to  me,  in 
the  course.  They  read  very  little  Latin  or  Greek,  but  spent 
much  time  on  grammar,  &c.  One  of  our  bishops,  a  Master  of 
Arts  before  the  war,  told  me  that  he  had  never  read  any  Homer, 
though  a  full  graduate  there.  That  is  all  changed  now. 
One  of  the  professors  came  into  our  hotel  and  drank  at 
the  bar  a  stiff  glass  of  brandy,  and  it  was  said  in  excuse 
that  he  was  an  Englishman.  We  stopped  at  Covington  and  at 
last  reached  the  White  Sulphur.  We  had  passed  on  our  journey 
many  family  parties  in  their  own  carriages.  At  the  Springs  there 
were  more  than  one  hundred  carriages  owned  by  private  parties. 


102 


White  Sulphur  Springs.  103 

and  six  four-in-hand  carriages,  and  every  morning  they  went  out 
driving.  Mrs.  Dolly  Madison  was  there  with  some  young  ladies 
named  Walker.  She  often  went  about  the  grounds  in  her  turban. 
The  leaders  of  society  in  Virginia  and  in  the  South  were  there, 
such  as  the  Tayloes,  Hamiltons,  Middletons  and  Pinckneys.  I 
remember  what  a  pretty  woman  Miss  Pinckney  was.  One  family 
from  South  Carolina  had  eleven  horses  and  seven  servants  with 
them.  Gambling  went  on  openly,  and  near  our  cottage  men  assem- 
bled to  play.  The  table  and  accommodations  were  poor  and  Mr. 
Caldwell,  the  proprietor,  said  when  complaint  was  made  :  "The 
guests  came  to  drink  the  water  and  not  for  high  living  at  the 
table."  Men  went  out  hunting  all  the  time,  deer  and  other  game 
being  very  abundant.  The  packs  of  hounds  interested  me 
greatly,  being  something  entirely  new. 

We  stayed  three  weeks  and  Dr.  Slaughter  preached.  He  had 
a  very  happy  faculty  for  selecting  suitable  texts,  and  his  sermon 
there  was  on  the  Pool  of  Bethesda.  Once,  preaching  in  the  woods 
to  the  soldiers,  he  took  no  text,  but  said  :  "  The  groves  were  God's 
first  temples,"  and  used  that  as  his  theme. 

Ex-Governor  James  Barbour  of  Virginia,  a  large  man  with  a 
strong  face,  was  there  ;  he  was  a  great  talker  and  always  had  a 
group  around  him  listening  to  his  eloquent  conversation.  Ex- 
Governor  Sprigg  of  Maryland  and  many  other  prominent  men  met 
there. 

We  visited  all  the  other  springs  near  by,  and  the  Hawk's  Nest, 
fifty  miles  away.  This  is  a  remarkable  precipice,  1,100  feet  in 
perpendicular  height  above  the  water,  which  roars  and  tumbles 
below  and  yet  not  the  faintest  sound  is  heard  above.  I  spent  the 
night  in  a  log  cabin,  and  its  owner  said  he  had  seen  a  panther  the 
day  before  and  that  he  could  shoot  all  the  wild  turkeys  he  wanted 
more  easily  than  raising  them. 

Rev.  J.  J.  Page,  when  in  West  Virginia,  knelt  to  pray  in  a  one- 
roomed  cabin,  and  the  man  came  and  shook  him,  thinking  he  was 
ill.     They  had  never  heard  of  God  or  the  Christian  religion. 

The  Natural  Bridge  far  surpassed  my  expectations,  and  there  I 
received  my  first  impression  of  sublimity.  To  see  that  vast  dome, 
so  to  speak,  the  arch  so  regular,  so  graceful,  and  airy,  of  solid 
rock,  the  same  with  the  sides,  overwhelms  the  mind.  It  is  all 
one  solid  piece. 

We  came  back  by  Staunton,  where  there  was  a  frame  church  and 
a  small,  feeble  congregation,  which  had  not  been  long  organized, 


I04  White  Mountains. 

where  I  preached.  I  visited  Weyer's  Cave  nearby.  I  went  also 
to  Harper's  Ferry,  in  which  I  was  disappointed.  Jefferson  had 
never  seen  it  when  he  wrote  his  fine  description. 

Dr.  French,  in  Alexandria,  told  me  that  buffalo  had  been  killed 
the  last  ten  years  of  the  last  century  in  Virginia.  Where  he  lived 
he  got  certificates  from  several  persons  that  their  fathers  had 
killed  buffalo  in  Wytheville,  and  they  were  published  in  the 
American  Naturalist,  edited  by  my  nephew.  There  is  a  place 
called  Buffalo  Lick  Springs  near  Staunton. 

I  never  saw  the  dogwood  which  makes  the  spring  so  gay  and 
spreads  its  level  floors  of  white  through  the  dull  woods,  until  I 
came  South,  or  the  beautiful  tulip  poplar  tree.  The  opossum, 
highly  valued  by  the  negro,  is  not  found  north  of  the  Hudson. 
My  son  caught  two  in  one  night  in  his  traps.  Wild  turkeys  were 
abundant  in  Fairfax  when  I  came. 

In  August,  1832,  five  years  before  my  trip  through  Virginia,  I 
traveled  in  a  buggy  from  Walpole  through  the  White  Mountains. 
The  scenery  was  quite  different  from  that  in  Virginia,  and  the 
trees  and  vegetation  unlike.  In  both  nature  was  in  her  prime, 
uninjured  by  the  hand  of  man.  I  went  up  the  valley  of  the  Con- 
necticut river,  stopping  at  Hanover  for  the  College  Commence- 
ment ;  thence  to  Oxford,  a  beautiful  town,  Bath  and  Haverhill, 
the  river  in  view  all  the  way,  lined  occasionally  with  fine 
meadows,  reaching  Littleton,  New  Hampshire,  where  I  was 
treated  with  attention  from  our  letters  of  introduction.  We  next  day 
drove  the  fifteen  miles  to  White  Mountains,  through  an  unbroken 
"  forest  primeval  "  of  the  white  pines  one  hundred  and  twenty -five 
and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  that  had  never  felt  the  axe. 
Thirty  years  later  I  passed  over  the  way  and  not  one  of  them  was 
left.  The  country  was  full  of  game  ;  partridges  I  saw  in  the  road  ; 
deer,  wolves  and  bears  were  common  and  seen  every  day.  I  was 
much  excited  at  seeing  the  fresh  track  of  a  bear.  The  week 
before  a  party  passing  through  the  Notch  saw  a  wolf  standing 
over  the  body  of  a  deer.  They  drove  the  wolf  off  and  took  the 
deer  of  which  they  made  a  good  feast.  The  mountain  sides  were 
grooved  from  summit  to  base  by  the  sliding  of  earth,  and  the 
Notch  seemed  in  process  of  being  filled  up  by  the  torrents  of  sand 
and  stones  brought  down.  The  clouds  had  been  gathering 
around  the  bald  summits,  they  enveloped  the  defile  in  mist  as  we 
came  near  and  the  violent  wind  bent  down  the  stunted  trees  of 
the  Notch. 


Potomac  River.  105 

We  fished  one  day  at  the  falls  of  the  Araonoosuck,  a  wild  syl- 
van scene,  an  object  of  great  interest  anywhere  but  in  the  White 
Mountains.  The  Crawford  House  was  the  only  hotel  and  it  was 
full  with  its  fifty-two  guests  when  I  was  there.  Old  Crawford  was 
living,  and  to  entertain  the  guests  used  a  speaking  trumpet,  the 
sound  of  which  when  softened  by  distance  and  far  away  among 
the  hills  resembled  unearthly  melody,  and  tones  of  more  than 
mortal  sweetness  were  sent  back  from  their  rocky  caverns.  We 
were  prevented  from  ascending  Mt.  Washington  by  a  snowstorm 
in  August,  which  Crawford  said  had  never  been  known  before. 
At  that  time  visitors  had  to  walk  to  the  top,  then  horses  were 
used  until  the  railroad  was  made.  With  great  interest  did  we 
watch  the  varying  changes  of  that  mountain,  either  when  reflect- 
ing the  evening  or  morning  sunbeams,  and  when  partly  covered 

with  snow. 

I  once  travelled  with  a  man  who  said  he  could  have  bought,  in 

1834,  the  whole  of  Chicago  for  one  hundred  dollars  an  acre.  Dr. 
Heman  Humphrey,  of  Amherst,  went  out  there  and  invested  five 
hundred  dollars.  A  few  years  after  he  was  asked  to  sell  it  for 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars  and  he  took  the  offer.  The  next  sale 
was  one  hundred  thousand.  Its  value  now  is  immense,  being  in 
the  heart  of  the  city.  It  was  incorporated  as  a  city  in  this  very 
year,  March  4,  1837,  population  4,170. 

The  Potomac  river  when  I  first  came  was  not  only  full  offish,  but 
abounded  in  wild  ducks,  canvas-back  and  other  choice  varieties, 
and  wild  geese.  Going  up  the  river  on  the  boat,  I  have  often  seen 
large  spaces,  acres,  covered  with  ducks,  and  they  did  not  seem 
timid.  Dr.  Richard  Stuart,  who  lived  lower  down  the  Potomac 
in  King  George  county,  has  told  me  that  often  he  was  kept  awake 
by  the  noise  of  the  ducks  and  geese  feeding  in  the  river.  I  went 
down  to  an  association  there  with  Bishop  Meade  and  B.  B.  I^ea- 
cock,  who  preached  so  well  that  they  called  him.  He  was  very 
kind  and  helpful  to  me.  We  stayed  at  Cedar  Grove,  the  beauti- 
ful and  hospitable  home  of  Dr  Richard  Stuart,  and  the  table  fairly 
groaned  under  the  weight  of  his  generous  provision.  His  house 
was  only  a  few  yards  from  the  river  bank.  The  mocking  birds 
used  to  sing  all  night,  in  the  yard  there,  it  seemed  to  me. 
Potomac  means,  I  think,  in  the  Indian  language,  stream  of  swans, 
and  in  a  poem,  "  The  Maid  of  the  Doe,"  by  C.  Carter  Lee,  are 
these  lines  : 

"From  thy  south  shore,  great  stream  of  swans, 
Came  the  great  I^ees  and  Washingtons." 


io6  Fairfax  County. 

When  I  came  to  Fairfax  county  the  farms  were  very  large,  but 
the  land  was  generallj^  poor.  The  negro  slaves  were  numerous, 
but  no  one  seemed  to  make  money  by  farming  or  to  care  much 
for  making  it.  Hospitality  abounded,  and  living  was  most  lux- 
urious as  far  as  the  table  was  concerned.  There  was  a  marked 
difference  from  the  northern  ways  in  all  external  matters,  and 
while  often  the  houses  were  substantial  and  well  built,  the  yard 
and  farm  was  not  kept  with  strict  regard  to  appearances  or  to  beauty. 
I  remember  enjoying  a  most  luxurious  dinner  at  a  house  not  at 
all  imposing,  surrounded  by  a  worm  fence,  though  this  was  not 
usual.  By  the  way,  the  worm  fence  is  a  curious  survival  of  the 
past,  and  shows  a  country,  such  as  Virginia  and  Maryland  were, 
where  wood  and  labor  were  most  abundant,  and  saw  mills  scarce 
nnd  nails  costlj\  In  the  seventeenth  century  nails  were  men- 
tioned in  the  wills  as  valuable  assets. 

Society  was  then  simple  and  in  some  respects  patriarchal.  The 
head  of  the  house  was  a  man  who  not  only  had  his  household 
looking  up  to  him,  but  perhaps  one  to  four  hundred  slaves,  for 
whom  he  had  to  think  and  provide  in  many  ways. 

Hugh  S.  IvCgare  defined  feudalism  as  a  scheme  of  organized  an- 
archy, while  the  social  system  of  the  South  on  the  contrary  was 
both  unorganized  and  conservative.  It  has  been  called  "patri- 
archal in  its  upper  stratum  and  pastoral  in  its  lower  one." 

Dress  was  a  very  simple  thing  comparatively.  A  young  lady 
of  the  best  families  would  have  a  handsome  dress,  which  was 
worn  on  best  occasions,  and  some  simple  lawn  or  gingham  gowns, 
and  she  would  then  be  ready  to  visit  her  friends,  or  even  to  go  to 
the  Springs.  Fashions  did  not  then  change  so  often  as  now. 
The  trunks  were  small,  often  of  sole  leather,  or  hair-covered  nar- 
row low  boxes,  such  as  could  be  easily  carried  on  the  top  of  the 
stage  or  the  seat  behind  the  carriage.  Often  in  the  mountains, 
where  vehicles  were  not  so  much  used,  they  would  go  off  to  a 
party  or  for  a  visit  with  sufiacient  clothing  carried  in  a  bag  on  the 
pommel  of  the  saddle.  Now  we  have  changed  all  this,  and  no 
young  lady  can  go  off  for  a  short  visit  without  a  dozen  dresses, 
and  a  Noah's  ark  or  a  Saratoga  hotel  to  hold  them. 

Virginia  had  from  the  first  some  remarkable  characteristics  in 
a  financial  way.  During  the  seventeenth  century,  from  1607- 
1700,  there  was  so  little  coin  in  circulation  that  it  might  be  said 
that  it  was  not  used,  tobacco  being  the  currency  for  everything, 
from  the  payment  for  groceries  and  goods  to  the  hire  of  laborers. 


Kindness  to  Slaves.  107 

the  fees  of  lawyer,  doctor  and  minister,  the  building  of  houses 
and  churches.  This  use  of  tobacco  extended  in  some  measure 
into  the  eighteenth  century,  though  coin  and  notes  were  then 
used  more  largely.  But  a  new  element  came  in,  and  that  was 
slavery,  which  aflfected  its  financial  system. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  think  that  the  slaves  were  neglected 
generally.  Being  the  most  valuable  property,  they  were  of  course 
well  cared  for,  and  I  can  bear  my  personal  witness  to  the  kindness 
and  care  usually  shown  them.  They  were  kept  occupied,  but 
that  was  necessary  for  their  good,  and  their  work  was  not  often 
excessive.  This  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  seldom  was  money 
made  in  Virginia  by  them  ;  no  great  fortunes  were  accumulated, 
no  costly  houses  were  built  or  handsome  furniture  bought.  There 
was  great  abundance  of  good  food,  most  of  which  was  raised  on 
the  place  by  the  industry  and  oversight  of  the  master  and  mis- 
tress. Most  of  what  was  raised  was  consumed  on  the  farm  ;  sel- 
dom was  even  enough  sent  off  to  pay  for  the  goods  that  were 
bought.  No  private  or  public  improvements  remain  to  show  any 
hard  labor  on  the  part  of  the  slaves  ;  no  good  roads,  no  strong 
fences,  and  no  public  buildings  or  monuments  such  as  were  made 
by  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  were  ever  contemplated  or  attempted. 
Why  !  Virginia  with  its  immense  number  of  laborers,  if  they  had 
been  worked  with  system,  not  to  say  severity,  might  be  a  garden 
spot,  with  stone  turnpikes  through  every  farm,  stone  fences  and 
stone  barns,  instead  of  its  miry,  clay  roads,  its  worm  fences,  and 
its  frame  stables. 

Just  here  I  might  say  that  in  the  life  of  the  late  Frederick  Doug- 
lass, he  states  that  negro  children  were  not  allowed  to  be  baptized  in 
slavery  times.  This  is  false  in  regard  to  the  Episcopal  Church 
(and  I  doubt  not  in  regard  to  the  Methodists  and  Presbyterians 
also),  as  our  parochial  records  will  show.  For  instance.  Rev.  F. 
D.  Goodwin,  rector  of  St.  Paul's  parish.  Prince  George's  county, 
Maryland,  reports  to  the  Maryland  Convention  of  1836  that  the 
previous  year  he  had  baptized  37  white  infants  and  63  colored 
infants.  In  our  Journals  from  of  old  stands  Infants,  white  ;  in- 
fants, colored,  under  head  of  Baptisms,  and  the  same  double  record 
for  Confirmations. 

The  slaves  were  not  overworked  or  even  hard  worked  in  Vir- 
ginia or  Maryland,  I  think.  Fifteen  or  more  would  be  kept 
about  the  house  or  yard  ;  fifty  were  kept  about  Arlington,  and 
the  others  would  work  on  the  farm.     I  remember  hearing  that 


io8  FiNANCiAi,  Methods. 

Rev.  John  T.  Clark  (father  of  Rev.  W.  Meade  Clark),  once  find- 
ing that  his  overseer  had  made  over  one  hundred  hogsheads  of 
tobacco  on  his  immense  plantation  with  its  numerous  slaves,  told 
him  that  he  did  not  want  his  slaves  worked  so  hard. 

Not  all  were  like  this,  for  I  heard  Bishop  Richard  Wilmer  once 
in  a  sermon  say,  "  for  a  few  more  pounds  of  tobacco  you  will  work 
your  slaves  too  hard  or  make  them  work  on  Sunday.  ' ' 

Now,  as  to  the  effect  of  slavery  on  the  financial  methods  of 
Virginia,  it  was  this  :  The  slaves  formed  a  large  portion  of  the 
wealth  of  the  rich  and  were  almost  the  same  as  bonds,  for  they  were 
readily  converted  into  cash  on  occasion.  Hence  a  man  who  had 
such  property  had  good  credit  with  the  merchants.  The  planter 
could  get  what  supplies  he  needed  year  by  year,  sending  down 
what  he  had  to  spare  from  the  farm,  and  being  credited  for  the 
rest,  and  charged  from  twelve  to  twenty  per  cent,  more  for  interest. 
This  might  go  on  for  years  unless  either  the  merchant  or  the 
farmer  should  die.  In  that  case  the  sale  of  a  slave  or  a  family  or 
two  of  slaves  would  settle  the  matter.  The  planters  were  not 
used  to  paying  their  debts  until  they  died,  and  it  has  occurred  to 
me  that  this  was  one  cause  of  the  financial  diificulties  in  which 
the  State  of  Virginia  was  involved.  They  were  not  used  to 
settling  debts  as  others  were,  and  hence,  though  with  as  high  a 
sense  of  honor  as  any  people  in  the  world,  repudiation  and 
readjustment  took  place  after  the  war. 

It  was  very  uncommon  to  press  a  debtor  in  Virginia.  While 
he  lived,  few  creditors  would  disturb  him  by  executing  a  judgment. 

Mr.  Henry  Fairfax  once  told  a  friend  of  mine  that  old  Mr.  D , 

under  pressure  of  debt,  was  to  be  sold  out  by  some  creditor,  not 
probably  of  the  same  county.  On  the  day  fixed  for  the  sale  Mr. 
Fairfax  rode  over  to  express  his  sympathy  for  his  old  friend,  and 
found  him  sitting  on  the  lawn  before  his  house  with  his  house- 
hold goods  around  him,  but  there  was  no  one  there  to  bid  and  the 
sheriff  did  not  even  make  his  appearance.  Those  were  easy-going 
times,  though  somewhat  earlier  party  strife  was  bitter  and  often 
sundered  families. 

The  army  and  navy  had  great  attractions  for  Southern  men, 
and,  as  appointments  were  the  President's  prerogative  then,  many 
Southern  men  entered  both  branches.  Fairfax  county  furnished 
her  share  of  navy  and  army  officers. 

Before  the  State  Convention  of  1850  none  but  those  having  a 


Cotton  and  Slavery.  109 

legal  interest  in  land  had  the  right  to  vote,  and  the  vote  was  then 
viva  voce. 

A  word  more  as  to  slavery,  which  is  admirabl}^  treated  by  Ed- 
ward Ingle  in  Southern  Sidelights,  from  which  I  quote,  that  "cot- 
ton and  slavery  were  introduced  into  the  South  within  a  twelve- 
month." Tobacco  and  cotton  culture  prompted  England  to  fasten 
slavery  upon  the  South,  hence  the  plantation  system  was  formed  in 
order  to  produce  raw  material  for  England,  and  when  England 
let  go  the  North  took  hold,  so  that  slavery  in  America  is  due  to 
England  and  New  England. 

The  last  ship  that  brought  slaves  from  Africa  to  this  country 
was  called  the  "  Wanderer,"  landing  one  load  not  long  before  the 
war  on  the  coast  of  Georgia.     Her  "log"  was  lately  found  and 

is  a  curious  record.     Her  owner,  Mr.  Charles  I^ ,  was  the  only 

child  saved  from  a  terrible  wreck,  and  to  the  remonstrance  of  his 
father  about  bringing  slaves  to  this  country,  he  replied  that  he 
felt  justified  in  bringing  the  poor  wretches  out  of  Africa  into 
Georgia  for  that  he  bettered  their  condition  in  every  way. 

The  community  in  general  was  peaceful  and  law-abiding.  Men 
did  not  usually  carry  deadly  weapons.  Those  who  followed  the 
code  of  honor  had  no  occasion  to  go  armed,  and  others,  when  they 
did  fight,  used  their  fists.  I  never  heard  when  I  came  to  Virginia 
of  men  drawing  pistols  on  each  other.  Fourth-of-July  and  gen- 
eral-muster days  sometimes  were  the  occasions  of  trouble.  Old 
General  Morgan,  of  Revolutionary  fame,  was  a  noted  pugilist  and 
his  home  in  Clarke  county  was  near  Berryville,  which  was  often 
called  Battletown,  on  account  of  his  combats. 

McCarty,  whom  I  have  seen,  used  to  be  pointed  out  as  the  man 
who  had  killed  Mason  in  a  duel.  They  used  rifles  and  agreed  to 
stand  at  the  end  of  the  rifle,  and  it  was  a  wonder  McCarty 
escaped.  Duels  used  to  be  common  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago.  I 
have  known  of  :ministers  fighting  duels.  There  used  to  be  a 
regular  duelling  ground  outside  of  Washington  near  Bladensburg. 
It  was  considered  that  no  man  could  come  off"  with  honor  without 
fighting  a  duel  under  certain  provocations.  Some  few  brave  men 
stood  out  against  this  barbarous  custom. 

John  Randolph  of  Roanoke  had  been  making  pretty  heavy 
strictures  on  the  Richmond  Whig,  of  which  John  Hampden 
Pleasants  was  the  editor.  Pleasants  went  on  to  Washington 
expressly  to  insult  him  and  bring  about  a  duel.  Meeting  Ran- 
dolph on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,   Pleasants,  standing  directly  in 


no  John  RandoLtPH. 

front  of  him,  said  loudly,  "I  don't  get  out  of  the  way  of  pup- 
pies." Quick  as  a  flash  John  Randolph,  stepping  aside,  said,  "  I 
always  do.     Pass  on." 

John  Randolph  said  that  "  farming  in  Virginia  went  in  a  circle. 
The  negroes  raised  the  corn,  the  hogs  ate  the  corn,  the  negroes 
ate  the  hogs"  and  so  on.  A  Southern  journal  described  the 
circle  of  investment  of  capital  in  land  and  negroes,  "  Making 
more  cotton  to  buy  more  negroes  to  raise  more  cotton  to  buy  more 
negroes. ' ' 

It  reminds  us  of  Turretin's  Papal  circle.  The  Papacy  proved 
the  Bible,  the  Bible  proved  the  Church,  and  the  Church  proved  the 
Papacy. 

When  Randolph  was  Minister  to  Russia  he  visited  London  and 

was  invited  to  lunch  with  lyord .     He  stopped  on  his  way  to 

see  Mrs.  Harriet  Martineau  who  made  herself  so  agreeable  that 
the  time   passed  away   and  lunch   being  brought  in  he  did  not 

leave.     Arriving  very  late  at  the  house  of  Lord he  said, 

"  Mr.  Randolph,  we  have  been  waiting  for  you." 

He  replied,  "  The  woman  tempted  me  and  I  did  eat." 

John  Randolph  freed  his  slaves  by  will ;  but  made  another  will 
later  making  John  C.  Bryan,  father  of  Joseph  and  Rev.  C. 
Braxton  Bryan,  his  heir.  These  wills  were  in  litigation  and  finally 
the  will  freeing  his  slaves  was  established.  His  brother,  Richard 
Randolph,  freed  his  slaves  and  settled  them  on  lands  near  Farm- 
ville,  Va.,  but  they  did  not  prosper. 

Mr.  David  Minge,  of  Charles  City  county,  Virginia,  in  the 
summer  of  1825  set  free  his  eighty-seven  slaves,  from  three  months 
to  forty  years  old,  valued  at  twenty-six  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
expenses  were  four  thousand  dollars  more,  as  he  chartered  a  vessel 
to  take  them  to  Liberia,  furnished  them  with  tools  and  goods  and 
money  to  start  them.  Aged  men,  about  to  leave  the  world,  have 
left  large  endowments  and  legacies  to  found  institutions  in  their 
honor.  Mr.  Minge  was  only  twenty-four  or  twenty-five,  and  thus 
performed  a  noble  act  of  unselfish  liberality.  William  H.  Fitz- 
hugh  set  free  three  hundred  .slaves. 

I  recall  my  father-in-law  saying  to  me  that  until  the  abolition 
movement  in  the  North  there  was  no  statesman  in  Virginia  who 
was  not  in  favor  of  abolishing  slavery  as  soon  as  it  could  be  safely 
done.  I  was  told  that  in  1832  the  Brodnax  resolution  in  the  Vir- 
ginia Legislature  to  call  a  convention  to  abolish  slavery  was  lost 
by  only  two  votes.  I  have  heard  also  that  about  that  time  Thomas 
Jefferson  Randolph  advocated  its  abolition  in  Virginia. 


Aunt  Delphy.  i  i  i 

Clay  advocated  gradual  emancipation,  with  purchase,  as  they 
should  come  of  age.  If  his  views  and  advice  had  been  adopted  a 
fearful  war  would  have  been  saved  the  country.  But  their  eyes 
were  blinded  that  they  could  not  see,  and  their  ears  stopped  that 
they  could  not  hear.  My  father-in-law  was  one  of  Senator  Clay's 
greatest  admirers,  and  also  one  of  the  most  ardent  advocates  of 
his  pacific  and  humane  measures. 

Dancing  or  some  amusement  was  often  provided  for  the  slaves 
on  Saturday  nights  closely  followed  by  religious  instruction  on 
Sunday.  On  some  plantations  slaves  were  called  to  family 
prayers,  and  ministers  either  white  or  colored  were  employed  to 
preach,  to  baptize,  to  marry  and  to  bury  the  dead.  An  infidel, 
it  is  said,  convinced  of  the  advantages  of  religion  for  slaves,  under- 
took to  teach  them  about  it  himself 

I  knew  an  old  colored  woman  named  Delphy,  living  on  the  Blue 
Ridge  Mountains,  who  had  been  paralyzed  for  more  than  forty 
years,  and  suffering  acute  nervous  pain.  In  all  that  time,  we 
were  assured,  she  had  never  been  heard  to  murmur  and  her  faith 
and  patience  were  the  admiration  of  all  who  knew  her.  For  more 
than  twenty  years  she  had  never  heard  the  Bible  read  and  did  not 
remember  having  been  visited  before  by  a  minister.  She  told  me 
that  though  her  sins  were  as  great  as  the  "  Cobbler  "  mountain 
and  black  as  charcoal  yet  Jesus  had  forgiven  her.  I  wrote  a 
short  account  of  her  to  the  Avierican  Messeyigtr  and  money  was 
sent  for  her.  A  good  mattress  was  bought,  instead  of  the  boards 
on  which  she  had  lain,  and  her  house  was  repaired,  but  it  hastened 
her  death.  Much  might  be  said  about  the  negroes'  desire  to 
please  by  saying  what  seemed  to  be  desired.  An  old  woman  in 
the  Almshouse  near  us  was  visited  by  our  students.  She  appeared 
very  old  and  when  one  asked  her  how  old  she  was,  said,  "  Most  two 
hundred.  Master."  Old  uncle  Dick,  a  negro  at  Chantilly,  lived 
to  a  great  age,  and  used  to  be  fond  of  telling  of  his  old  master, 
saying  once,  "  I  remember  Master  Richard  Henry  Lee  riding 
across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  his  white  horse." 

There  was  a  simplicity  in  religious  as  well  as  in  social  matters. 
People  then  believed  the  Bible,  and  observed  the  Lord's-Day  as  a 
sacred  season,  without  criticism  or  analysis.  They  better  knew 
how  than  why  they  believed  and  acted  as  Cowper  has  said  : 

"  They  knew  and  knew  no  more,  the  Bible  to  be  true, 
A  truth  the  brilliaut  Frenchman  never  knew." 


112  Religion  and  Education. 

Such  was  the  reverence  for  the  sacrament  of  the  lyord's  Supper, 
that  some  under  the  influence  of  erroneous  teaching  were  kept 
from  observing  the  positive  command  of  our  Lord  by  the  fear  of 
not  "  being  good  enough,"  their  intentions  being  praiseworthy, 
but  their  knowledge  defective.  The  conduct  of  many  such  men 
was  devout  and  exemplary,  and  many  were  not  confirmed  until 
old  age. 

There  were  no  internal  revenue  officers  then,  and  men  could 
"still"  whiskey  as  they  liked  from  apples  or  peaches.  Ardent 
spirits  were  cheap,  thirty  and  forty  cents  a  gallon,  so  there  was 
no  temptation  to  poison  and  drug  it,  and  even  men  who  drank  to 
excess  were  not  made  insane,  as  they  are  now. 

There  were  no  public  schools  at  that  time,  and  there  was  a 
general  inability  to  read  among  the  laboring  people.  This,  how- 
ever, did  not  prove  that  they  were  less  intelligent  or  less  moral 
than  those  who  think  that  ed^icatiori  means  attendance  on  public 
schools,  or  being  able  to  read  and  write.  The  masses  received 
educating  influences  in  mind  and  morals  from  well-educated 
classes — from  lawyers,  judges,  public  speakers  and  ministers. 
Public  speaking  was  a  great  educating  influence.  There  was  a 
well-marked  distinction  of  classes,  but  at  the  same  time  a  kindly 
feeling  and  a  friendly  association  between  them.  The  Civil  War 
showed  what  intelligence  and  character  existed  among  the  masses 
of  the  white  people. 

We  used  to  go  every  summer  after  I  was  married  to  Fauquier 
county,  Va.,  to  see  my  wife's  sister,  Mrs.  Dr.  R.  E.  Peyton.  We 
went  first  in  1839.  We  hired  a  hack  at  four  dollars  a  day  and  it 
took  about  three  days.  When  we  reached  Thoroughfare  Gap 
there  came  on  a  severe  thunder  storm  and  they  told  us  we  could 
not  get  across  Bull  Run.  Mr.  Chapman,  who  lived  in  a  stone 
house  near  by,  took  us  in,  and  we  spent  the  night  and  reached 
Gordonsdale  at  10  o'clock.  I  remt-mber  how  "The  Plains" 
looked — only  one  store  and  one  house. 

I  used  to  enjoy  my  life  at  Gordonsdale  very  much.  I  was  struck 
with  the  different  customs,  the  great  hospitality  ;  many  visitors 
coming  without  notice  and  stajang  two  or  three  days,  with  their 
horses.  They  would  have  breakfast  at  10  o'clock,  and  were  cele- 
brated for  their  bread  and  biscuit.  Dr.  Peyton  kept  twenty  horses, 
had  fifty  slaves — same  number  as  at  Arlington,  only  half  a  dozen 
perhaps,  doing  the  work,  the  rest  were  children  or  infirm  old 
people.     Mrs.  Peyton  used  to  have  a  great  deal  of  care  about  the 


Virginia  HospitaIvITy.  113 

slaves,  their  clothes  to  provide  and  a  new  suit  for  each  at  Christ- 
mas, and  there  were  always  some  sick  among  them  to  be  looked 
after.     Every  day  in  winter  a  wagon-load  of  wood  was  brought 
from  the  woods  for  the  day's  use.     Dr.  Peyton's   home  was  a 
pretty  fair  specimen  of  independent,  but  not  very  wealthy,  country 
life  in  Virginia.     His  farm  contained  about  700  acres,  for  which 
he  had  an  overseer.     That  year  he  had  100  acres  in  corn,   about 
the  same  in   wheat,  a  garden  of  five  or  six  acres  ;  grapes  in  the 
greatest  profusion,  more  than  I  ever  saw  in  my  life  before  ;  water- 
melons.    We  picked  thirty  fine  ones  in  one  day  ;  apples  innumer- 
able  and  half  an  acre   in   strawberries.     The  house  was  a  very 
large  one  of  brick  with  fourteen  guests  at  that  time.     Our  usual 
dinner   was  ham  (I  never  saw  a  dinner  in  Virginia  without  it), 
chickens,  fried  or  broiled,  a  saddle  of  mutton,    which  is  another 
standing  dish,  and  suck  mntton  ;  tomatoes,  cymblins,  cornpudding, 
etc.  The  desert  is  generally  ice  cream.  The  first  Sunday  I  spent  in 
Fauquier  county  we  drove  nine  miles  to  a  Union  Meeting  House, 
where  Rev.  George  Lemmon  preached  the  funeral  sermon  of  a 
Mr.  Buckner,  who  had  died  six  months  before.     The  widow  in- 
vited us  to  dine  with  her  on  our  way  home.     I  used  to  go  to  Mr. 
Edward  Marshall's  frequently,  where  there  was  a  house  full  of 
relatives,  some  from  the  far  South,  Douthats  and  others  ;  and  to 
Mr.  Strother  Jones',  who  had  a  large  farm  near  Winchester,  using 
forty  horses  and  many  slaves. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
MARRIAGE— GENERAL  WALTER  JONES. 

REV.  PHIIvIP  SLAUGHTER,  then  rector  of  Christ  Church, 
Georgetown,  introduced  me  in  Washington  City,  and  took 
me  to  visit  Gen.  Walter  Jones'  family,  whose  daughter  I 
married.  General  Jones  was  then  at  the  height  of  his  fame  as  a 
lawyer  and  orator ;  was  associated  with  all  the  leading  men 
there,  and  was  for  many  years  at  the  head  of  the  bar  in  Wash- 
ington. His  father  was  Walter  Jones,  M.  D.,  who,  graduating 
at  William  and  Mary  College,  went  to  Edinburg  to  study  medi- 
cine, and  was  there  held  in  high  esteem  by  CuUen  and  other  pro- 
fessors. He  practised  on  his  return  in  his  native  State,  Virginia. 
In  April,  1777,  Congress  elected  him  Physician  General  in  the 
Middle  Department.  He  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1797,  and 
again  in  1803-11.  Dr.  J.  M.  Toner,  in  his  book,  quotes  of  him 
this  testimony  :  ' '  He  was,  for  the  variety  and  extent  of  his 
learning,  the  originality  and  strength  of  his  mind,  the  sagacity  of 
his  observations  and  captivating  powers  of  conversation,  one  of 
the  most  extraordinary  men  I  have  ever  known.  He  seemed  to 
possess  instinctively  the  faculty  of  discerning  the  hidden  cause 
of  disease,  and  applying  with  promptness  and  decision  peculiar  to 
himself  the  appropriate  remedies."  He  was  the  intimate  friend 
of  Washington  and  Jefferson,  and  their  correspondence  shows 
how  highly  he  w^as  esteemed  by  them. 

Walter  Jones  was  born  at  Hayfield,  Northumberland  County, 
Va.,  on  October  7,  1775.  He  pursued  his  classical  studies  under 
a  Scotch  tutor  and  all  his  life  delighted  in  the  L,atin  classics. 
He  studied  law  under  Bushrod  C.  Washington,  a  wise  and  good 
man,  who  for  more  than  thirty  years  was  a  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court.  In  May,  1796,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and 
soon  became  famous  for  legal  learning,  eloquence  and  logical 
power. 

General  Jones  inherited  his  father's  talents,  and  though  he  has 
left  few  monuments  in  the  way  of  orations,  yet,  on  the  testimony 
of  William  Pinkney  and  others  of  equal  weight,  he  was  one  of 
the  most  eloquent  speakers  that  this  countrj'  has  ever  known, 

114 


General  Jones.  115 

The  Supreme  Court  bears  witness  to  his  powers  as  a  lawyer  in  its 
record  of  decisions,  and  he  was  engaged  in  the  most  famous  cases 
for  fifty  years,  the  name  of  no  other  lawyer  appearing  in  so 
many. 

Charles  Carroll  of  Carrolton  met  him  when  a  young  man  and 
said,  "  Is  this  the  Mr.  Jones  of  whom  I  hear  so  much  ?  " 

He  was  the  principal  lawyer  in  the  Girard  will  case,  and  the 
argument  had  been  made,  and  was  being  considered.  Another 
hearing  was  given  and  Daniel  Webster  was  chosen  as  associate. 
He  made  a  very  brilliant  speech,  but  he  did  not  answer  a  single 
new  point.  General  Jones,  through  courtesy,  assigned  to  him 
the  closing  argument.  It  was  he  that  put  Mrs.  Myra  Clark 
Gaines'  case,  that  romance  of  litigation,  on  a  firm  foundation,  so 
that  it  could  be  brought  before  the  courts.  The  most  famous  of 
his  cases  was  McCulloh  vs.  Maryland,  in  1819.  "Walter  Jones, 
Luther  Martin,  and  Joseph  Hopkinson  appeared  for  the  State  of 
Maryland,  while  Webster,  Pinkney  and  Wirt,  then  Attorney- 
General  appeared  for  the  Bank.  Though  the  decision  of  the 
Court  was  against  the  State  of  Maryland,  yet  Chief  Justice  Mar- 
shall from  the  bench  said  that  ' '  both  in  maintaining  the  affirma- 
tive and  the  negative,  a  splendor  of  eloquence  and  strength  of 
argument,  seldom,  if  ever,  surpassed,  have  been  displayed." 
Mr.  Pinkney  in  this  case  singled  out  the  argument  of  Mr.  Jones 
for  special  reply,  saying  his  speech  "was  one  which  the  most 
eloquent  might  envy,  the  most  envious  could  not  forbear  to 
praise." 

Ruf us  Choate  spoke  of  ' '  the  silvery  voice  and  infinite  analyti- 
cal ingenuity  and  resources  of  Jones."  Judge  Morsell  admired 
him,  and  loved  to  talk  of  him,  saying  that  if  you  granted  Gen- 
eral Jones'  premises,  you  must  adopt  his  conclusions,  so  convinc- 
ing and  persuasive  was  he. 

Mr.  John  H.  Latrobe,  in  1885,  speaking  of  Webster,  Wirt, 
Reverdy  Johnson  and  Walter  Jones,  said  :  ' '  Walter  Jones,  with 
no  personal  advantages,  the  quickest,  brightest  and  probably  the 
acutest  lawyer  of  the  four. ' ' 

Philip  R.  Fendall,  Esq.,  who  knew  him  intimately,  said  :   "We 
see  him  bringing  to  the  height  of  his  great  argument 
'All  the  reasoning  power  divine 
To  penetrate,  resolve,  combine  ; 
And  feelings  keen  and  fancy's  glow.' 


ii6  His  Eloquence. 

' '  a  logic  severe  and  subtile;  the  most  captivating  elocution,  though 
little  aided  by  gesture  ;  rich,  but  never  redundant,  illustration, 
drawn  from  extensive  and  various  reading,  hived  in  a  memory  sin- 
gularly retentive, and  always  applied  with  accurate  judgment  and  in 
good  taste.  We  see  him  discussing  a  perplexed  case,  driven  from 
one  point  to  another,  and,  at  length,  after  an  exhausting  contest 
of  many  days,  seeking  refuge  and  finding  victory  in  some  new 
position.  .  .  .  This  faculty  of  caUing  into  instant  action  all 
the  resources  of  an  intellect  so  vigorous,  so  astute,  so  comprehen- 
sive, so  fertile,  so  abundant  in  the  learning  of  his  profession, 
which  led  one  of  his  most  illustrious  competitors  to  remark  that 
•  if  an  emergency  could  be  supposed  in  which  a  cause  had  been 
ruled  for  immediate  trial,  and  the  client  was  driven  to  confide  it  to 
some  advocate  who  had  never  before  heard  it,  his  choice  ought 
to  be  Walter  Jones.'  In  the  social  circle  his  charm  was  con- 
spicuous. His  most  casual  remark  was  in  a  vein  of  originality, 
and  couched  in  terms  terse,  sententious,  and  of  the  purest  Eng- 
lish." 

General  Jones  appeared  in  nearly  all  the  neighboring  courts  in 
Virginia  and  in  Maryland.  A  gentleman  from  Winchester  remem- 
bers when  a  boy  that  the  school  was  dismissed  in  order  that  the 
boys  might  hear  General  Jones  speak. 

Hon.  Spencer  C.  Jones,  of  Rockville,  recalls  his  father  speak- 
ing of  him  in  the  Crampton  will  case,  one  of  the  famous  Mary- 
land will  cases.     Walter  Jones  made  the  closing  argument,  and 

his  father   was   foreman,    and    Tom   was  on    the   jury. 

Looking  around  he  saw  Tom  gazing  at  General  Jones  with  open 
mouth  and  gleaming  eyes.  At  the  close  he  said,  "Tom,  what 
did  you  think  of  that  speech  of  General  Jones?"  "Well,  I 
thought  I  would  give  everything  in  the  world  if  I  had  that 
man's  brains  inside  my  head."  "  No,  Tom,  you  could  not  have 
them  ;  they  would  burst  it." 

Coming  out  of  the  court  he  would  buy  of  the  boys  some  mar- 
bles, put  them  on  the  ground,  and  soon  lose  them  to  the  boys 
and  go  on  his  way. 

The  military  title  of  Walter  Jones  was  derived  from  his  com- 
mand of  the  militia  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  His  active 
service  in  this  role  was  in  the  defense  of  Washington  in  1814, 
when  the  raw  levies  were  forced  to  retire  before  the  veterans  of 
the  British  army.     The  only  shame  in  that  campaign  was  to  the 


His  Personauty.  117 

victors,  who  burned  the  President's  House  and  the  Capitol,  includ- 
ing its  library,  which  by  all  rules  of  civilized  warfare  should 
have  been  held  sacred. 

He  was  quite  a  small  man  but  of  well  built  and  active  figure; 
his  features  were  irregular,  but  his  face  was  lit  up  by  brilliant 
and  expressive  brown  eyes.  His  voice  was  rich  and  clear  and 
so  distinct  was  his  articulation  that  he  was  easily  heard  in  the 
largest  assembly  room.  He  attained  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-six 
years,  yet  he  preserved  all  his  faculties  in  almost  their  full  vigor 
to  the  last.  When  he  was  over  eighty  years  of  age  he  rode  on 
horseback  from  Washington  to  my  house  in  Fairfax  county,  a 
distance  of  eight  miles. 

He  died  October  14,  1861.  When  his  cousin,  Mary  A.  Jones,  went 
to  him,  he  said,  ' '  You  have  seen  many  sick  and  dying  persons,  do 
you  think  this  is  the  death  rattle  ?  "     She  said,   ' '  Yes,  I  think  it 
is. ' '     He  then  called  his  son-in-law.  Dr.  Miller,  and  said  he  wanted 
some  writing  done.     The  Doctor  said,  "  It  is  too  late  now,  Gen- 
eral."    He  said,  "  No,  I  can  sign  it  with  my  own  hand."     When 
told  there  were  two  witnesses  present,  he  said   "There  must  be 
three."     He  dictated  his  will,  his  strength  almost  gone  but  his 
intellect  unclouded,  and  while  some  one  held  his  hand  he  signed 
his  name.     Not  long  before  his  death  he  said  there  was  no  act  of 
his  life  that  he  looked  upon  with  any  degree  of  pride  or  pleasure. 
Walter  Jones  married   in    1808  Anne,  then  sixteen  years  old, 
daughter  of  Hon.    Charles  Ivce  and  granddaughter   of  Richard 
Henry  Lee,   and  first   cousin  of  Robert  K.   Lee.     When  three 
years  old  she  could  repeat  the  Declaration  of  Independence.     She 
was  a  brillant  and  beautiful  woman,  very  gay,  light-hearted  and 
witty,  would  never   speak   without   saying   something    bright. 
She  was   generous   to  a  fault,  gave   away  things  really  needed 
and  even  her  jewels  to  her  friends.     She  would  never  have  her 
picture  taken. 

They  had  fourteen  children,  twelve  of  whom  grew  up,  nine 
daughters  and  three  sons.  Walter  died  of  typhoid  fever  at  the 
University  of  Virginia,  having  given  promise  of  brilliant  intellec- 
tual powers  and  noble  character  ;  Thomas  was  drowned  in  the 
Rio  Grande  on  the  boundary  survey  in  1853,  and  Charles  Lee 
died  in  1889.  His  daughter  Katharine  died  of  smallpox  caught 
from  a  scholar,  while  a  missionary  in  China.  Three  daughters 
still  survive. 


u8  My  Marriage. 

General  Jones  had  a  country  place  in  Virginia,  and  there  was 
then  neither  Aqueduct  nor  Long  Bridge,  but  only  ferries.  His 
ferriage  bill,  I  think,  was  sometimes  five  hundred  dollars  a  year. 
One  summer  when  his  daughter,  Violetta,  was  ailing,  he  moved 
his  family  to  the  suburbs  to  a  house  standing  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Episcopal  residence  on  Thomas  Circle. 

He  was  often  absent-minded  from  his  abstraction  and  concen- 
tration of  mind,  once  getting  up  and  walking  in  the  aisle  of  the 
church  during  service. 

His  wife  had  the  accumulation  of  some  years  sent  to  the  auc- 
tioneer, but  to  her  surprise  and  dismay  a  few  days  later  nearly 
all  of  it  came  back,  having  been  fancied  by  General  Jones  who 
often  attended  sales  and  did  not  know  his  own  belongings. 

I  married  Rosina,  his  third  daughter,  at  the  house  on  Third 
street,  in  the  evening  of  January  23,  1838,  at  seven  o'clock.  Rev. 
Mr.  Owen,  a  one-armed  man,  who  was  then  in  charge  of  old 
Trinity  Church,  on  Fifth  street,  oflficiated,  and  made  me  say  the 
woman's  part,  includmg  the  word  obey.  Henry  Clay,  R.  E.  Lee, 
Emily  Lee,  Frances  Lee,  Franklin  Pierce,  then  in  Congress,  all 
the  Arlington  family,  the  Lees  and  other  relations  from  Alexan- 
dria, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lippitt,  Mrs.  Gales  and  others,  were  present, 
sixty  persons  in  all.  After  the  marriage  there  was  a  supper,  and 
Henry  Clay  took  the  bride  in,  and  I  remember  his  congratulating 
me  very  pleasantly.  I  recall  the  scene  and  how  people  looked — 
they  flit  before  me  like  figures  in  a  dream.  Life  seems  like  a 
dream. 

No  presents  were  given   in  those  days  and  wedding  journeys 
were  not  thought  of,  but  parties  and  receptions  were  given. 

We  spent  a  week  in  Washington,  going  into  company  every 
day.  One  evening  we  took  dinner  with  Mrs.  Gales,  and  shortly 
afterwards  there  was  dancing  before  we  had  left.  I  saw  Graves 
who  had  killed  Cilley ,  dancing.  Some  ill-natured  person  reported 
the  matter  to  Bishop  Meade,  who  took  me  to  task  about  it,  but 
accepted  my  explanation.  It  was  my  first  and  last  dancing  party. 
We  drove  in  a  hack  to  Alexandria  and  paid  a  visit  to  Mrs. 
Hodgson,  her  cousin.  Mrs.  Harriet  Lloj^d,  a  favorite  cousin, 
gave  us  a  beautiful  dinner  at  which  Rev.  Mr.  Dana  and  Mrs.  W. 
H.  Fitzhugh  were  present.  The  latter  had  not  long  been  left  a 
widow,  and  was  one  of  the  finest  looking  women  I  ever  saw,  fit 
to  grace  a  throne,  with  charming  manners  and  conversation.     I 


H 

ar. 

0 

K 

a 


Life  at  Howard.  119 

liv^ed  opposite  to  her  a   short  time  at  the  Lloyd   house  nearly 
thirty  years  after. 

We  then  boarded  for  three  months  at  Dr.  Alexander's  at  How- 
ard, the  present  High  School  property,  which  he  owned  and 
farmed.  In  the  spring  of  1838  the  trustees  bought  for  my  home, 
Melrose,  a  place  of  twelve  acres,  with  a  good  brick  house,  for 
which  they  paid  $3,500.  It  was  under  high  cultivation,  having 
a  fine  orchard  of  apple  and  peach  trees,  a  garden,  beautiful  rose 
bushes,  whence  its  name,  and  the  largest  pecan  tree  and  apricot 
trees  that  I  have  seen.  My  wife  had  visited  Clarens  before,  as 
the  McKenna  family,  her  relatives,  owned  it.  There  she  had 
met  Philip  Slaughter,  who  introduced  me  to  her.  It  was  vacant 
when  I  came  and  the  Trustees  thought  of  buying  it  for  $2,300, 
but  thought  it  too  remote. 

I  have  been  grateful  every  day  since  I  came,  to  God  and  to 
kind  friends,  who  have  granted  me  such  a  sweet  home  for  sixty- 
four  years.  The  Tones  family  were  very  intimate  with  the  Masons 
in  Washington,  and  when  General  Jones  was  at  my  house  once  I 
took  him  down  to  see  Mrs.  Rush,  who  was  visiting  Mrs.  Cooper. 

I  have  heard  him  often  speak  of  General  Washington.  One 
raw  and  snowy  day  in  the  fall  he  said  "  It  was  on  just  such  a  day 
I  remember  that  General  Washington  caught  his  death-cold. ' '  He 
attended  his  burial  and  I  suppose  was  one  of  the  last  survivors  of 
that  occasion.  Once,  about  1858,  walking  up  and  down  at  mj^ 
house,  I  heard  him  say,  "  On  this  very  da5^  sixty  years  ago,  I 
saw  General  Washington  at  such  a  place  in  a  green  velvet  suit." 
He  had  dined  with  Washington.  I  have  regretted  that  I  did  not 
get  more  from  him,  for  he  had  known  Jefferson  and  all  the  great 
men  of  that  day  very  well,  and  was  a  mine  of  information  about 
that  early  time.  When  young  we  often  do  not  appreciate  how 
much  we  can  learn  from  the  old,  and  regret  our  loss  when  they 
are  gone. 

I  heard  one  of  his  daughters  ask  him  about  General  Washing- 
ton. He  paused  and  said  :  "  He  was  the  greatest  man  I  ever 
saw  ;  there  was  a  majesty  about  him  that  I  have  never  seen  in 
another. ' ' 

My  wife,  born  in  1814,  the  year  St.  John's  Church  was  started, 
was  a  member  and  a  Sunday-school  teacher  of  Old  Trinity  Church, 
built  in  1829,  a  poor  building,  with  a  curtain  near  the  chancel, 
behind  which  the  minister  changed  his  surplice  for  gown. 


I20  Trinity  Church. 

Her  interest  in  religion  was  first  aroused  by  the  solemn  and 
beautiful  service  of  the  Holy  Communion  as  celebrated  by  Rev. 
H.  V.  D.  Johns,  the  brother  of  the  Bishop,  and  first  rector  of 
Trinity  Church.  Her  father  attended  that  church,  was  on  the 
building  committee  of  the  present  edifice,  giving  one  thousand 
dollars,  and  his  daughter,  Katharine,  giving  a  legacy  she  had 
lately  received.  When  his  two  daughters  were  confirmed,  my 
wife  and  Mrs.  Henry  T.  Harrison,  he  went  up  with  them  and 
stood  near  holding  their  hats.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Matthew 
Harrison,  was  the  first  person  married  in  the  present  church, 
which  is  like  the  Temple  Church  in  London,  with  clerestory 
windows.  For  many  years  it  was  a  bare  looking  building,  but 
under  the  able  leadership  of  its  present  rector.  Rev.  Richard  P. 
Williams,  it  has  been  made  very  beautiful,  the  debt  has  been 
paid  and  on  its  seventy-fifth  anniversary  the  church  was  conse- 
crated. The  communicants  now  number  850  and  the  Sunday- 
school  850,  while  the  parish  has  2,000  members. 
I  add  here  a  letter  written  January  23,  1878  : 

My  Dear  Wife  :  .    . 

On  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  our  marriage  I  feel  that  it  is 
but  due  to  you  that  I  should  address  a  few  lines  to  you.  Very 
few  couples  reach  the  fortieth  year  of  their  married  life.  I  may 
at  times  have  seemed  unmindful  of  what  I  owed  you,  but  the 
longer  I  live  the  more  do  I  appreciate  your  faithfulness  to  your 
duties.  My  comfort  and  usefulness  are  largely  owing  to  your 
prudent  management  and  attention  to  my  comfort.  Our  children 
owe  to  you,  far  more  than  to  me,  the  training  which  has  made 
them  a  blessing  to  us,  and  to  others.  They  '  rise  up  and  call 
you  blessed.'  I  can  only,  on  this  day,  pray  that  you  may  be 
spared  many  years  to  bless  your  family  and  that  we  may  during 
the  brief  span  of  life  that  remains  to  us  so  live  together  in  this 
world  that  in  the  world  to  come  we  may  have  life  everlasting. 

I  have  spoken  at  the  beginning  of  dear  Dr.  Slaughter,  and 

will  close  with  a  letter  he  wrote  me  on  my  fiftieth  anniversary  as 

Professor  here : 

The  Highlands,  Cui^peper  County,  Va. 

My  Dear  Brother: 

^  ^  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Though  absent  in  body  I  shall  be  present  in  spirit,  and  heartily 
sympathize  with  all  that  may  be  said  and  done  in  your  honor  on 
the  semi-centennial  anniversary  of  your  faithful  service  in  the 
Seminary.     The  good  seed  which  you  have  sown  has  borne  fruit 


Philip  Slaughter.  121 

in  the  Old  as  well  as  in  the  New  World.  It  must  be  a  great 
comfort  to  you  in  your  old  age  to  think  that  the  impulse  which 
you  have  given  to  many  minds  is  propagating  in  ever-widening 
circles  in  a  sort  of  geometrical  progression,  and  will  be  felt  in  all 
time  and  in  the  endless  cycles  of  eternity.  Many  a  young  soldier 
of  the  Cross  whom  you  helped  to  arm  for  the  fight  has  fallen  in 
the  domestic  and  in  the  foreign  field  while  you  survive.  All 
honor  to  the  battle-scarred  veteran  who  after  half  a  century's 
service  still  '  holds  the  fort.' 

In  looking  back  over  the  years  that  are  passed  '  since  we  were 
first  acquent,'  myriads  of  memories  come  flashing  like  electric 
sparks  over  the  wires.  Among  these,  not  the  least  pleasing  are 
the  memories  of  our  wanderings  to  and  among  the  AUeghanies — 
the  mountains  with  the  story-telling  glens,  the  crystal  springs, 
the  murmuring  streams,  and  meads  as  dew-drops,  pure  and  fair, 
which  filled  our  souls  with  grandeur,  melody  and  love.  What  a 
change ! 

'  Faces  and  footsteps  and  all  things  strange  ; 
Gone  are  the  heads  of  silvery  hair, 
And  the  young  that  were  have  a  brow  of  care.' 

But  these  thoughts  do  not  fit  the  occasion,  which  is  one  of 
congratulation  and  thanksgiving.  '  Silver  and  gold  have  I  none, 
but  such  as  I  have  give  I  unto  thee  ' — the  offering  of  a  loving 
heart. 

'  So  blessings  on  your  frosty  pow, 
John  Anderson,  my  Joe  ! 
John  Anderson,  my  Joe  John, 

We  clamb  the  hill  thegither  ; 
And  mony  a  canty  day,  John, 
We've  had  wi'  ane  anither; 
Now  we  maun  totter  down,  John, 

But  hand  in  hand  we'll  go, 
And  sleep  thegither  at  the  foot, 
John  Anderson,  my  Joe.' 

Faithfully  and  affectionately  your  old  friend, 

Philip  Slaughter. 

Dr.  Slaughter  used  to  have  very  long  family  prayers,  some- 
times when  warmed  up  using  the  Te  Deum  or  anything  beauti- 
ful. Some  young  men  who  were  visiting  there  were  kept  wait- 
ing a  long  time  and  it  was  suggested  he  should  shorten  his 
prayers.  He  said,  "Shall  I  leave  the  throne  of  grace  for  mortal 
man?  " 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
BISHOPS   MOORE  AND    MEADE. 

THE  life  of  Bishop  Moore  has  been  written,  but  I  will  speak 
of  him  as  I  knew  him  the  last  five  or  six  years  of  his  life. 
He  was  born  in  New  York  in   1762,  his  grandfather  being  an 
eminent  merchant  there  and  the  first  person  buried  in  Trinity 
church-yard  in  1749.     He  was  ordained   Deacon  and   Priest  in 
1787  by  Bishop  Provoost.     He  was  of  most  attractive  manners 
and  sweet  temper,  and  after  a  most  faithful  and  most  successful 
ministry  of  twenty-seven  years  he  was  elected  Bishop  of  Virginia 
in   1 8 14.     He  was  intensely  evangelical  in  his  preaching,   had 
strong  personal  magnetism  and  true  pulpit  eloquence.     His  man- 
ner was  lively,  and  his  voice  had  unusual  charm  and  pathos.     On 
one  occasion,  after  preaching  as  usual  and  giving  the  benediction, 
no  one  started  to  go,  but  remained  seated  in  fixed  and  solemn 
attention.    A  member  of  the  church  arose  and  said  :   ' '  Dr.  Moore, 
the  people  are  not  disposed  to  go  home.    Please  to  give  us  another 
sermon."     At  its  close  a  like  scene  was  repeated,  and  the  services 
went  on  through  a  third  sermon,  when  he  was  obliged  to  say, 
"  My  beloved  people,  you  mtist  now  disperse,  as  my  strength  is 
exhausted  and  I  can  say  no  more. ' ' 

It  was  the  custom  then  to  pay  for  burials  as  well  as  marriages. 
Often  the  executor  was  instructed  to  pay  the  minister.  A  funeral 
was  not  complete  even  in  cities  unless  a  sermon  was  preached, 
sometimes  six  months  or  a  year  after  death,  perhaps  being  re- 
garded as  a  requiescat  as  in  the  Roman  Church.  Hence  arose  the 
expression  which  still  survives  to  "preach  the  funeral." 

Bishop  Moore  always  had  a  good  word  for  everyone.  Once  he 
preached  at  the  burial  of  a  woman  who  was  known  as  a  scold, 
and  he  gave  her  a  different  character  from  that  she  had  with  her 

neighbors. 

He  was  sent  for  to  marry  a  gentleman  and  received  a  fee  of 
fifty  dollars.  Some  years  after  he  was  sent  for  to  bury  the  wife 
and  received  one  hundred  dollars.  Bishop  Ravenscroft  used  to 
say  that  he  received  more  from  a  man  for  burying  his  wife  than  for 
performing  the  marriage.  Was  the  last  fee  larger  because  of  greater 


122 


Bishop  Moore.  123 

affection  than  at  the  beginning  ?  I  heard  of  a  man  who  paid 
no  wedding  fee  saying  that  he  would  send  it  at  the  end  of  the 
year  if  Sally  pleased  him,  and  every  year  thereafter  sent  one 
hundred  dollars  to  the  clergyman. 

At  the  General  Convention  in  Baltimore,  1808,  Moore  made 
such  an  impression  that  he  was  twice  called  to  St.  Paul's  there. 
The  Convention  was  so  affected  by  his  reading  of  the  new  hymns 
that  an  opponent  of  their  adoption  protested,  saying  "I  object 
to  the  hymns  being  read  by  that  gentleman,  for  we  are  so  fasci- 
nated by  his  reading  that  we  shall  without  hesitation  adopt  them 

all." 

Only  seven  clergymen  and  eighteen  laymen  made  up  the  special 
convention  that  elected  him,  so  weak  was  our  Church  then.     His 
coming  brought  new  strength  and  hope  to  the  Diocese,  and  new 
life  sprung  up.     Ten  new  churches  were  reported  as  being  built 
in  18 16,  and  eight  of  the  old  or  deserted  buildings  were  being 
repaired,  and  the  good  work  he  started  has  gone  on  even  to  this  day. 
From  four  or  five  working  ministers  when  he  came,  it  grew  in 
his  twenty-seven  years  to  nearly  a  hundred  earnest  and  devoted 
clerg>'.     His  ministerial  life  was  evenly  divided — twenty-seven 
years  as  Priest  and  twenty-seven  as  Bishop,  and  in  both  he  was 
most  successful.     He  was  of  a  loving,  genial  temperament,  but 
mild,  firm,  and  with  his  benignant  countenance  and  saintly  look 
he  impressed  every  one,  and  none  who  saw  him  could  doubt  the 
apostolical  succession  in  his  case.    When  he  came  to  the  Seminary 
at   commencement   and   examinations   the    easiest   chair  in  the 
neighborhood  was  secured  for  him,  and  there  he  would  sit,  serene 
and  calm,  often  asleep,  but  no  one  seemed  to  think  anything  of  it. 
Once  a  young  woman  was  speaking  of  the  self-denial  of  the 
Christian  life  as  hindering  her  confirmation,  and  he  said,    "Oh, 
I  don't  expect  you  to  be  an  angel."     He  was  very  natural  and 
human  in  his  feelings  and  his  conversation  was  bright  and  full  of 
anecdote.     He  was  to  the  end  devoted  to  his  work.     I  have  heard 
him  say  that  he  was  often  weary  m  his  work,  but  never  weary  of 
it.     He  was  very  fond  of  associations  and  protracted  religious 
services,  but  without  any  of  the  dangerous  devices  of  the  mourners' 
bench.     At  the  annual  convention  rehgious  meetings  were  held 
before  and  after  its  session,  and  he  called  all  the  Church  families  he 
could  together  there  to  hear  fervent  preaching  and  earnest  praying, 
and  great  good  was  done.     Communicants  were  urged  to  abstain 


124  Farewell  Address. 

from  worldly  amusements  and  the  standard  of  piety  was  raised. 
His  addresses  after  the  close  of  the  convention,  Sunday  night,  were 
so  fervent  and  eloquent  that  the  congregation  were  often  in  tears. 
In  the  Life  of  Bishop  Moore  one  of  his  farewell  addresses  is 
given,  but  it  cannot  give  the  sweet  voice,  the  appropriate  gesture, 
the  melting  eye,   the  overwhelming  pathos  and   feeling  which 
made    his    words  so   impressive.     A    brief    extract    is    given : 
.  <  ^     *     -^     The  concourse   of    people  who   attend  our  conven- 
tions from  every  part  of  the  Diocese  attest  the  responsibility  of 
our  office,  prove  the  interest  they  feel  in  the  concerns  of  our 
Zion,  and  proclaim  to  us  in  language  which  cannot  be  misunder- 
stood the  necessity  of  ministerial  fidelity.     What  ambassador  of 
the  Saviour  can  look  around  him  at  this  moment  without  the 
conviction  resting  on  his  mind    that  he  will  have   to    give  an 
account  of  his  stewardship  ;  that  the  precious  immortals  who  at- 
tend on  his  ministry  merit  his  unwearied  efforts  ?  that  it  is  his 
duty  to  deliver  his  Master's  message  with  scrupulous  fidelity  ;  in 
season  and  out  of  season  to  call  sinners  to  repentance  ;  to  lead 
them  for  salvation  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  to  press  on  their  con- 
sciences the  necessity  of  that  holiness  without  which  no  man  shall 
see  the  Lord  ?     *     *     *     When  we  cast  our  eyes  around  us,  from 
the  pulpits  we  occupy  on  the  Sabbath,  and  witness  the  assemblies 
of  God's  people  in  the  sanctuary,  we  should  remember  that  they 
form  the  objects  of  the   Saviour's  compassion  ;  the   beings  for 
whom  He  shed  His  precious  blood,  and  for  whom  He  died  on  the 
cross.     *     =i^     *     We  should  permit  no  considerations  of  pleasure 
or    indulgence    to  step  in  between  us   and  our   pastoral    duty. 
*     *     *     My  beloved  sons  in  the  ministry,  we  have  no  time  to 
fold  our  arms  in  ease  and  indolence.     *     *     *     I  speak  to  you, 
my  sons,  as  a  father  to  his  children,  and  it  is  from  an  experience 
of  fifty  years  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  that  I  call   upon  you  to 
be  faithful." 

This  gives  us  some  idea  of  his  thought  and  his  style  of  address. 
Bishop  Moore  was  a  great  favorite  in  Baltimore  and  New  York, 
where  at  times  he  received  an  ovation  after  his  powerful  preach- 
ing. He  attended  the  General  Convention  in  New  York,  1841, 
and  took  great  intestest  in  the  proposal  to  appoint  two  bishops- 
one  for  Texas  and  the  other  for  Western  Africa.  Returning  home 
he  preached  in  Richmond  and  then  set  out   in  November  for 


Bishops  Otey  and  Polk.  125 

Lynchburg,  where  he  died  after  an  illness  of  a  week,  in  his  eight- 
ieth year.  I  can  never  forget  this  truly  apostolic  man.  His 
placid,  affectionate  countenance,  his  hoary  locks  flowing  down 
his  neck  and  shoulders,  his  trembling  hands  upraised  above  the 
congregation,  touched  you  before  a  word  was  spoken.  His 
words  were  so  solemn,  so  tender,  so  simple,  so  parental,  that  it 
was  as  a  father  speaking  to  his  children.  The  Church  in  Vir- 
ginia owes  much  to  his  long  and  earnest  episcopate. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Jackson,  an  honored  clergyman,  was  assist- 
ant to  Bishop  Moore  at  Monumental  Church,  Richmond,  but,  his 
health  failing,  he  came  to  Alexandria  to  live.  He  died  there  in 
1837,  and  having  married  the  widow  Mullikin  («/<?  Bowie),  his 
body  was  carried  to  Croom,  to  the  family  burying-ground.  All 
the  clergy  of  the  vicinity  went  over  in  hacks  to  the  burial,  and  I 
remember  there  were  twenty-seven  gates  on  the  public  road.  I 
drove  the  road  again  in  1887,  fifty  years  after,  and  the  gates  had 
been  taken  off  only  a  few  years  before. 

I  may  mention  here  some  other  bishops  whom  I  met  about 
this  time.  James  H.  Otey  was  consecrated  the  first  Bishop  of 
Tennessee  shortly  before  I  came  to  the  Seminary,  and  one  hundred 
and  eighty  bishops  have  been  consecrated  since.  He  was  noble 
in  birth,  in  character  and  in  appearance,  and  a  devoted  missionary 
bishop.  Bishop  Green  baptized  him  as  an  adult  and  Bishop 
Otey  years  later,  with  Bishops  Polk  and  Freeman,  consecrated 
Bishop  Green,  at  Jackson,  Mississippi.  Once  when  the  cross-tree  of 
a  stage  broke.  Bishop  Otey  blew  the  bellows  and  struck  for  the 
blacksmith  in  making  a  new  one.  He  may  be  styled  the  founder 
of  the  University  of  the  South,  though  Bishops  Polk  and  Quintard 
were  its  earnest  and  successful  builders. 

Bishop  Polk  about  this  time  had  immense  distances  to  travel  in 
visiting  Arkansas,  I^ouisiana,  Alabama  and  Texas,  and  his  report 
of  work  to  the  General  Convention  of  1838,  I  think,  has  never 
been  surpassed  by  any  of  our  missionary  bishops.  I  met  him 
once  when  he  visited  Dr.  Keith.  He  had  just  been  through 
Texas  on  horseback,  and  I  recall  his  saying  that  he  could  buy  the 
finest  land  for  cotton  and  sugar  for  five  dollars  an  acre.  He  was 
a  great  and  noble  man,  of  most  commanding  presence.  Some 
one  met  him  once  and  said,  ' '  How  do  you  do,  General  ?  ' '  Polk 
replied,  "  I  am  not  a  general."      "  Well,  how  are  you,  Judge?  " 


126  Bishop  Chase. 

"  I  am  not  a  judge.     I  am  a  bishop."      "  Well,  I  knew  you  were 
some  sort  of  a  commanding  officer,  anyhow." 

Bishop  Philander  Chase  went  to  Ohio  when  it  was  a  howling 
wilderness,  but  was  determined  to  have  a  college.  He  went  to 
England  and  begged  the  money  and  bought  some  thousand  acres 
and  built  Kenyon  College,  which  was  named  after  Lord  Kenyon, 
and  the  town  Gambler  after  another  benefactor.  He  used  to 
go  around  soliciting  money  for  it  and  visited  us. 

There  was  much  talk  at  that  time  about  the  bronze  eagle  lec- 
terns which  were  objected  to  as  an  innovation.  The  Bishops  were 
asked  for  their  views  about  them  and  they  were  published  in  the 
Episcopal  Recorder.  Bishop  Chase's  reply  was  :  "  I  do  not  know 
anything  about  bronze  eagles,  but  I  know  about  gold  eagles  and 
I  would  like  to  have  some  for  Kenyon."  A  Scotch  woman, 
when  she  first  saw  them,  said,  "The  minister  was  ahint  the 
hen." 

Bishop  Chase  wrote  the  pastoral  letter  of  1835  and  read  it  to 
Bishop  Brownell,  who  said  nothing,  though  he  did  not  like  it  ;  he 
showed  it  to  Bishop  Meade,  who  said,  "This  will  never  do," 
and  talked  to  Bishop  Brownell,  and  he  said,  "  Write  it  your- 
self," which  he  did. 

Bishop  Chase  was  a  simple,  natural,  and  strong  man.  He  was 
very  fond  of  animals,  and  had  a  choice  ram  in  a  pen,  which  got 
out  while  he  was  preaching.  He  saw  it  and  stopped,  saying, 
' '  My  ram  is  out. ' '  He  once  spoke  to  two  young  ladies  who  were 
Presbyterians.  "  Why  don't  you  get  off  that  little  raft  on  which 
you  have  to  hold  up  your  aprons  to  make  sail,  and  get  on  the 
good  old  ship  of  Zion? "  They  both  joined  the  Episcopal  church 
and  later  on  one  became  Mrs.  Churchill  J.  Gibson.  She  riding 
to  church  one  Sunday  with  her  nephew  passed  a  Presbyterian 
church.  He  said  :  ' '  Let  us  get  out  here  and  get  the  pure  milk 
of  the  Word."  She  said  :  "No,  I  prefer  to  ride  farther  and  get 
the  cream,"  which  she  did  at  her  husband's  church. 

I  may  here  mention  one  or  two  things  of  general  interest. 
The  ten  years  from  1830  to  1840  was  a  remarkable  period  in  the 
history  of  our  Church,  and  its  growth  in  strength  and  influence 
during  the  same  length  of  time  has  never  been  equalled  in  this 
country,  before  or  since. 

The  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Churches  at  the  North 
had,  by  some  rigid  doctrines,  lost  their  hold  on  many,  and  their 


Episcopal  Church.  127 

organization  was  too  much  of  a  clerical  aristocracy.  They  were 
called  "The  Standing  Order."  The  liberal  Christians  were 
alarmed  by  the  doctrinal  breaking  up  which  they  had  begun, 
which,  however,  went  too  far  for  them.  The  Unitarians  were 
divided,  since  many  felt  that  it  was  necessary  to  acknowledge  the 
Divinity  of  the  Being  who  gave  the  name  to  their  religion,  while 
many  became  almost  infidel.  The  other  religious  bodies  were 
imposing  new  terms  of  communion — anti-masonic,  anti-slavery, 
total  abstinence  and  the  like,  and  were  driving  the  thinking  and 
conservative  men  from  them.  The  Methodists  also  did  not  meet 
the  wants  of  a  parochial  and  settled  ministry.  The  Episcopal 
Church  stood  forth  then  with  its  beautiful  Liturgy,  its  most 
apostolic  constitution  and  polity,  in  agreement  with  the  universal 
usage  of  Christendom  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  and  with  the 
general  order  of  things  in  the  civil  government,  whose  founders 
were  mostly  Churchmen,  and  above  all  with  a  hearty  welcome  to 
all  who  desired  her  "  more  excellent  way."  This  welcome  had 
not  always  been  extended,  for  once  it  was  regarded  almost  as  an 
intrusion  for  outsiders  to  join  the  Episcopal  Church.  This  wel- 
come I  am  inclined  to  think  is  not  given  now  in  some  quarters  of 
our  Church  for  fear  lest  those  coming  in  may  not  hold  all  the 
doctrines  and  ways  of  the  elect. 

We  had  earnest,  able  bishops  at  that  time,  who  had  great  in- 
fluence in  attracting  outsiders.  I  have  spoken  of  Bishops  Gris- 
wold  and  Moore  and  their  mighty  influence  on  outsiders  as  well 
as  on  those  in  the  Church.  Bishop  White  lived  till  1836,  and  he 
stood  forth  as  the  great  representative  of  Episcopacy,  and  his 
wisdom  and  moderation  attracted  many.  Then  Bishops  Chase, 
Brownell,  Smith,  Hopkins,  Mcllvaine,  Meade,  Otey  and  Kem- 
per all  exercised  great  influence.  Bishops  Onderdonk  and  Doane 
were  High- Churchmen  ;  not  being  associated  with  them  I  did  not 
know  of  their  work  so  well. 

I  often  used  to  go  over  to  Burlington  from  Bristol  College  Sun- 
day afternoons  to  hear  Bishop  Doane  catechise,  for  which  difiicult 
exercise  he  had  the  most  wonderful  powers  I  have  ever  known. 
It  was  a  delight  to  hear  him.  Once  the  river  was  frozen  solid 
and  we  went  all  the  way  on  the  ice. 

Bishop  John  Henry  Hopkins  was  very  conservative  in  the  first 
part  of  his  episcopate,  and  about  the  time  of  the  Tractarian  move- 
ment and   Ritualism  he  wrote  a   most  able  tract.  The  Novelties 


128  Bishop  Hopkins. 

that  Disturb  O^ir  Peace ;  but  later  on  lie  changed  and  wrote  a 
small  book  called  The  Law  of  Ritualism,  &c.,  quite  the  opposite. 
I  sometimes  compare  them.  He  was  a  man  of  great  force  and 
ability.  The  result  of  our  position  in  those  years,  1830-1840,  as 
conservative,  sound  in  the  faith,  and  evangelical,  was,  I  think, 
the  largest  increase  we  have  ever  had.  The  number  of  the  clergy 
doubled  in  that  decade,  and  many  of  our  ablest  clergy  came  to 
us  from  without.  Among  them  were  Bishop  Thomas  M.  Clark, 
E.  A.  Washburn  and  Daniel  R.  Goodwin. 

At  this  time  there  were  two  well-defined  parties  in  the  Church, 
differing,  however,  not  much  as  to  any  fundamental  doctrines,  but 
mostly  as  to  the  relative  importance  of  certain  features  of  the 
Church  and  in  the  interpretation  of  certain  terms.  The  Episco- 
pal Church  was  not  ashamed  then  to  call  itself  Protestant,  and  as 
yet  no  Oxford  movement  had  developed  the  theory  of  Episcopal 
absolutism.  Its  bishops  were  not  mere  ecclesiastics,  but  the 
leaders  of  the  Christian  people.  All  the  members  were  under 
one  general  law,  their  mutual  rights  and  functions  adjusted  by 
written  statute. 

This  influence  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  due  to  its  Liturgy,  its 
true  catholic  faith,  its  constitutional  order  and  apostolic  ministry, 
was  the  great  force  then  and  is  the  same  now,  and  not  any 
extreme  or  exclusive  notions  of  Episcopacy,  as  some  now  in  their 
arrogance  seem  to  think.  A  convention  in  August,  1783,  set 
forth  ' '  a  declaration  of  certain  fundamental  rights  and  liberties 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Maryland,"  of  which  the 
third  article  is  as  follows  :  ' '  Without  calling  in  question  the 
rights,  modes  and  forms  of  any  other  Christian  churches  or  so- 
cieties, or  wishing  the  least  contest  with  them  on  that  subject,  we 
consider  and  declare  it  to  be  an  essential  right  of  the  said  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church  to  have  and  enjoy  the  continuance  of  the 
said  three  orders  of  ministers  forever,  so  far  as  concerns  matters 
purely  spiritual." 

This  was  the  simple,  strong  position  of  the  Church  of  England 
until  the  time  of  Laud.  We  admire  both  its  moderation  and  its 
wisdom,  for  the  dogma  of  Episcopacy  that  unchurches  others  and 
denies  their  valid  ministry,  though  irregular  in  our  view,  is  an 
extreme  one,  and  influences  not  the  mass  of  men,  but  the  excep- 
tional cases.     The  Historic  Episcopate,  observed  from  the  first  in 


A  Tory  Bishop.  129 

the  Church  as  apostolic,  wise,  constitutional,  and  the  best  bond 
of  unity  and  continuity,  will  always  win  its  way. 

Bishop  Seabury  held  the  strongest  view,  but  it  was  his  per- 
sonal powers  and  energy  and  not  the  exclusive  dogma  that  he 
held  that  gave  him  any  influence,  we  believe. 

Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Wharton,  my  life-long  friend,  and  a  man  of 
remarkable  ability  in  so  many  directions,  has  told  me  that  they 
intended  to  tar  and  feather  Bishop  Seabury  in  his  town,  so  un- 
popular were  his  political  views  and  Toryism.  He  had  been  a 
chaplain  in  the  British  Army  and  was  constantly  writing  and 
publishing  political  pamphlets  against  the  independence  of  the 
colonies. 

A  Congregational  minister.  Rev.  Matthew  Byles,  approaching 
him  said,  "I  extend  to  you  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,"  and 
he  gave  his  left  hand.  This  Byles  was  a  Tory,  and  living  in 
Boston  suffered  changes  of  feeling  ;  it  was  said  he  was  "guarded, 
regarded  and  disregarded." 

Dr.  Wharton  also  said  that  Bishop  White  was  of  a  timid,  gentle 
disposition.  He  did  not  always  call  things  by  their  simple 
names,  but  used  circumlocutions,  speaking  of  Satan  as  that  per- 
sonage. Bishop  Meade  once  preached  in  his  church,  and  by  his 
plain,  strong  language  made  the  people  tremble,  and  Bishop 
White  told  him  in  the  vestry-room  they  were  not  used  to  that 
sort  of  preaching. 

I  might  here  say  that  another  strong  feature  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  its  appeal  to  others  was  the  share  of  the  laity  in 
church  work.  When  we  were  seeking  the  Episcopate  from  Eng- 
land the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  others  feared  an  intrusion 
on  clerical  privileges  from  the  democratic  character  of  our  coun- 
try. The  American  Churchmen,  however,  insisted  on  lay  repre- 
sentation, which  was  unknown  in  England.  They  upheld  it  as 
scriptural  and  primitive,  and  as  necessary  to  the  growth  of  the 
Church  in  America. 

A  third  striking  feature  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  period 
when  I  joined  it  was  its  common  worship,  in  which  all  the  con- 
gregation joined.  There  was  not  then,  as  now,  such  wide  vari- 
ance in  the  regular  usages  of  public  worship,  but  High  and  Low- 
Church  had  the  same  customs.  Now  there  is  wide  diversity,  and 
some  customs  are  thought  High-Church  which  have  no  doctrinal 
meaning,   but  are  matters  of  taste.     In  those  earlier  years  the 


130  Church  Usages. 


shorter  Absolution  was  read  by  the  Low-Churchmen,  and  the 
longer  Absolution  in  Morning  Prayer  was  read  by  High-Church- 
men. There  is  no  real  doctrinal  difference.  If  there  were,  the  two 
ought  to  be  read  in  the  opposite  way.  Yet  it  used  to  be  a  mark 
of  Churchmanship  which  Absolution  was  read.  So  unreasoning 
are  some  of  our  judgments  ! 

It  used  to  be  the  custom  to  sing  the  verse  of  a  hymn  as  each 
set  of  communicants  came  to  the  chancel  and  returned. 

Rev.  Dr.  Milner  and  other  evangelical  clergy  had  prayer-meet- 
ings in  their  churches.  Bishop  Hobart  once  went  to  Dr.  Milner 
and  told  him  that  he  must  break  up  the  prayer-meeting  in  New 
York.  He  replied,  "Well,  Bishop,  you  must  go  with  me  and 
break  it  up." 

When  I  first  joined  the  Episcopal  Church  the  General  Confes- 
sion was  often  said  as  the  rubric  directs,  clause  by  clause,  after 
the  minister,  no  doubt  because  Prayer-books  were  not  so  common 
nor  the  service  so  well  known  as  now.  This  is  done,  I  am  told,  now 
in  some  places  in  England,  and  might  be  advisable  with  the  col- 
ored congregations  or  any  others  not  acquainted  with  our  service. 

The  General  Convention  of  1835  passed  a  resolution  that  "  in 
repeating  the  General  Confession  in  the  Morning  and  Evening 
Prayer,  the  people  should  unite  with  the  minister  in  saying  it 
after  him  in  the  same  manner  as  is  usually  practised  in  saying 
the  Creeds,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Confession  in  the  Com- 
munion Service."  Bishop  Stone,  of  Maryland,  in  1836  recom- 
mended to  his  clergy  to  do  the  same  for  the  sake  of  uniformity, 
and  to  avoid  needless  additions  of  time  to  the  service.  Bishop 
Moore,  in  his  Convention  address,  1836,  said  that  he  had 
refrained  from  adopting  this  recommendation  himself  and  sub- 
mitted the  subject  to  their  consideration.  The  Committee  on  the 
State  of  the  Church,  Rev.  Dr.  Empie,  chairman,  thought  their 
former  practice  in  conformity  with  the  original  intention  of  the 
rubric,  and  so  not  to  be  altered  by  mere  resolution  or  recommenda- 
tion of  General  Convention  ;  yet  they  think  the  recommendation 
is  not  inconsistent  with  the  rubric,  that  it  is  expedient,  and  for 
the  sake  of  uniformity  they  recommend  the  observance  of  the 
resolution  to  all  the  churches  of  the  Diocese.  The  old  practice, 
according  to  the  letter  of  the  rubric,  is  now  thought  a  novelty. 

I  would  like  to  quote  the  words  of  my  friend  Bishop  George 
Burgess.     ' '  Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  Church  has  forsaken 


Bishop  Burgess.  131 

none,  has  excluded  none,  that  it  is  older  than  all,  and  that  from  it 
all  are  derived.  Even  where  its  numbers  are  small,  its  position  is 
one  which  no  reflecting  man  could  wish  to  see  abandoned  or 
otherwise  vacated,  and  it  is  not  arrogance  if  it  still  claims  to  be 
the  ancient  homestead  and  hearthstone  of  all  Christians  of  English 
blood,  and  the  only  abode  which  is  large  enough,  in  its  place,  to 
embrace  them  all." 

I  must  add  a  word  as  to  Bishop  Burgess,  as  I  have  thought 
him  a  most  learned,  gifted  and  noble  man.  His  memory 
was  remarkable,  his  learning  prodigious,  and  his  sound, 
common  sense  made  him  a  most  useful  minister  and  bishop.  He 
died  while  resting  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer  from  Hayti  April  23, 
1866  ;  suddenly  called  but  perfectly  prepared  through  his  faith 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

I  shall  not  speak  so  much  of  Bishop  Meade,  because  the  ad- 
mirable life  of  him  by  Bishop  Johns  portrays  his  noble  character 
and  is  in  the  hands  of  many  of  my  readers.  I  have  always  said 
that  he  was  a  great  man  and  a  great  bishop.  Simple  and  plain 
in  his  ways,  he  was  of  such  strong  character  and  principle  that  at 
times  he  seemed  harsh  and  severe.  His  Recollections  of  Two 
Beloved  Wives  did  him  injustice,  as  also  did  the  Reminiscenses, 
by  one  of  his  schoolboys.  Rev.  Robert  Nelson.  Severity  was 
then  the  rule  in  schools.  He  had  no  salary  for  many  years, 
and  was,  later  on,  forced  to  be  very  economical,  and  I  remember 
his  bringing  his  clothes  down  in  the  spring  to  be  dyed  in 
Alexandria. 

He  was  most  simple  and  self-denying  to  himself ;  acted  on 
the  saying,  ' '  plain  living  and  high  thinking "  ;  for  many 
years  refused  a  salary  and  supported  himself,  like  St.  Paul,  by 
his  own  efforts.  I  once  visited  him,  and  there  was  not  a  soft 
chair  in  the  house.  While  stinting  himself,  he  was  most  gen- 
erous in  his  gifts  to  poor  clergymen,  to  religious  societies,  the 
poor,  and  the  asylums  for  the  widow  and  orphan.  Until  1839, 
besides  his  other  many  works,  he  was  constantly  in  charge  of 
some  parish,  healing  its  discords,  reviving  its  religious  interests, 
and  building  it  up  again. 

It  is  significant  that  Bishop  Meade  entered  the  ministry  in  181 1 , 
when  Virginia  had  no  representative  in  the  General  Convention 
at  New  Haven,  where  it  was  reported  "that  they  feared  the 
Church  in  Virginia  was  so  depressed  that  there  was  danger  of 


132  Bishop  Meade. 

her  total  ruin,  unless  great  exertions,  favored  by  the  blessing  of 
Providence,  are  employed  to  revive  her."  At  that  Convention 
only  two  bishops  were  present.  Only  twenty-one,  and  waiting 
I  think  for  that  canonical  age,  he  turned  aside  from  the  bright 
worldly  prospects  before  him  to  his  God  and  Church.  William 
Meade  did  not  believe  the  Church  was  dead  in  old  Virginia,  but 
only  torpid  from  long  neglect.  He  labored  more  than  fifty  years 
with  heart,  mind  and  body  to  revive  her  and  rebuild  her  ruined 
churches,  and  lived  to  see  her  rise  from  the  dust  and  put  on  her 
beautiful  garments. 

Throughout  his  long  life  he  was  a  most  untiring  worker  in 
every  department  of  his  ministry,  preaching,  traveling,  working, 
writing,  and  collecting  funds,  and  to  him  more,  we  believe,  than 
to  any  other  one  man  does  Virginia  owe  the  revival  and  up- 
building of  the  Church.  Mr.  Meade,  though  assistant  to  Dr. 
Balmaine  in  Frederick  parish,  took  charge  of  Christ  Church, 
Alexandria,  in  November,  181 1,  and  soon  built  up  a  strong  and 
devoted  congregation.  His  youth,  zeal,  evangelical  doctrine  and 
musical  voice  attracted  notice  from  the  first,  bringing  members  of 
Congress  to  hear  him — John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  and  Milner, 
afterwards  Rev.  Dr.  Milner,  both  of  whom  owed  much  to  his 
influence.  Francis  S.  Key,  author  of  the  "Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner," was  another  intimate  friend  and  co-worker,  to  whom  John 
Randolph  wrote,  in  May,  1814,  when  Rev.  Mr.  Meade  was  to 
preach  at  the  opening  of  the  Monumental  Church,  on  the  site  of 
the  burned  theatre  :  ' '  Meade  will  preach  to-morrow  in  the  new 
church.  All  classes  are  eager  to  hear  him.  The  congregation 
would  like  to  have  him  establish  himself  here.  No  man  could  be 
more  generally  revered  than  he  is."  Sunday  evening  he  adds  : 
' '  Meade  preached  a  most  excellent  sermon  on  the  pleasures  of 
a  true  Christian  life.  He  goes  to  Hanover,  thirty-five  miles,  to 
preach  at  night.     I  fear  he  will  wear  himself  out. ' ' 

The  same  energy  and  zeal  marked  his  whole  life.  A  devoted 
Virginian,  he  labored  for  its  true  welfare  in  every  way,  and  his 
influence  was  widespread  and  controlling.  He  was  ordained  pres- 
byter in  Alexandria,  January  10,  18 14,  by  Bishop  Claggett,  who 
doubtless  at  the  same  time  consecrated  St.  Paul's  Church.  On 
that  occasion  he  wore  his  mitre,  which  he  put  on  at  a  house  some 
distance  off,  and  walked  through  the  streets  followed  by  a  great 
crowd  of  boys,  who  were  struck  with  admiration  at  his  gigantic 


His  Early  Ministry.  i33 

stature  and  his  official  dress.  As  the  procession  of  clergy  and 
vestry  entered  the  church,  reciting  the  twenty-fourth  Psalm,  his 
stentorian  voice  startled  the  quiet  congregation,  and  one  young 
lady  of  weak  nerves  was  so  overcome  that  she  was  carried  out  in 

convulsions. 

Dr.   Meade  from  the  first   took    the   deepest  interest  in  the 
negroes  and  preached  to  them  himself  most  faithfully  and  con- 
stantly.    I  heard  him  preach  at  Falls  Church  one  hour  and  a 
half,  the  last  third  to  the  negroes.     He  set  his  own  slaves  free, 
but  seeing  its  injury  to  the  negroes,  he  did  not  encourage  this 
plan,  but  took  the  warmest  interest  in  the  American  Coloniza- 
tion Society,  and  founded  many  branches  of  it  in  New  England. 
After  his  consecration,  in  1829.  he  visited  all  parts  of  the  great 
State  of  Virginia  as  far  as  the  Ohio  river,  and  also  the  Diocese  of 
Maryland  and  the  infant  churches  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 
Once  in  West  Virginia  his  carriage  broke  down  and  he  walked 
nine  miles  and  had  to  sleep  three  in  a  bed.     He  was  a  constant 
writer,  and  more  than  fifty  publications  were  issued  by  him.     He 
once  remarked  that  he  thought  the  best  work  of  his  life  had  been 
his  effort  to  introduce  good  books  to  people.     I  have  a  copy  of 
the  sermons  he  edited  for  lay  readers,   reprinted  in  England  m 
1874,  and  sold  largely. 

The  Rev.  Lucius  Carter,  a  graduate  of  1824,  had  moved  to 
Pennsylvania,  and  in  1829,  when  the  election  for  bishop  took 
place,  as  it  was  known  that  Mr.  Carter  would  vote  for  Rev.  Dr. 
Meade,  a  rule  was  introduced  refusing  the  right  to  vote  except  on 
a  certain  length  of  residence,  which  shut  him  out.  Dr.  Meade, 
however,  received  a  majority  of  one  of  the  votes  cast,  but  as  Dr. 
Byrd  Wilson  neither  voted  nor  v/as  present  when  the  ballots  were 
deposited,  the  chairman  ruled  that  as  he  had  not  received  the 
votes  of  a  majority  of  the  clergy  in  atteyidance ,  no  nomination  was 
made.  So  Dr.  Meade  was  saved  for  Virginia,  and  for  a  more 
pleasant  work  than  with  his  views  he  could  have  found  in  Penn- 
sylvania at  that  time. 

We  know  in  what  a  low  state  the  Church  was  when  Bishop 
Meade  began  his  ministry  in  1 8 11 .  It  is  encouraging  to  find  him 
report  in  1837  that  in  the  Diocese  of  Virginia  more  than  seventy 
ministers  faithfully  declare  the  word  of  life  in  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  stations.  Now  there  are  two  Dioceses  set  off 
and  the  old  Diocese  is  stronger  than  it  was  then. 


134  Founder  of  the  Seminary. 

He  was  from  the  first  on  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Semi- 
nary, and  his  tireless  efforts,  his  practical  wisdom,  his  zeal, 
made  the  Seminary  a  reality. 

To  its  interests  and  welfare,  the  heart,  the  mind  and  the  will 
of  Bishop  Meade  were  devoted.  He  watched  over  it  with  a 
father's  care  and  a  mother's  tenderness.  Some  one  once  on  the 
Seminary  cupola  said,  ' '  If  you  seek  his  monument  gaze  around 
you."  No  man  could  desire  one  more  grand  and  enduring. 
When  straitened  for  funds,  as  it  often  was,  he  collected  the 
means  to  relieve  it  by  his  personal  efforts  and  influence.  He 
conducted  its  affairs  with  the  strictest  economy  and  saved  it  from 
shipwreck  on  the  rock  on  which  so  many  institutions  of  learning 
have  split. 

He  was  not  only  a  founder,  but  a  benefactor,  parent  and 
nurse  of  the  Seminary,  and  it  was  as  the  apple  of  his  eye. 

He  was  in  some  respects  narrow,  as  most  strong  men  are  apt 
to  be.  After  the  chapel  was  built  at  the  Seminary,  the  pews, 
as  designed  by  the  architect,  were  finished,  with  a  cross  at  the 
top  of  the  pew  end.  They  stood  so  for  some  time,  when 
on  one  of  his  visits  they  struck  him  unpleasantly,  and  he  ordered 
them  to  be  sawed  off.  This  was  done  and  the  chapel  was  a  scene 
of  direful  destruction,  with  these  crosses  covering  the  floor. 
Strange  to  say,  in  the  Psalter,  the  Sunday  after  this  was  done, 
was  the  verse,  Ps.  Ixxiv,  7  :  "  But  now  they  break  down  all  the 
carved  work  thereof  with  axes  and  hammers  ;  ' '  Phillips  Brooks 
was  present  then.  He  mellowed  very  much  in  his  later  years, 
and  I  do  not  think  he  would  have  done  it  fifteen  years  later. 

He  would  not  allow  his  own  boys  to  have  marbles,  but  he 
bought  the  first  ones  for  his  grandchildren.  He  was  Professor 
of  Pastoral  Theology  at  the  Seminary,  and  he  published  his  lec- 
tures on  Pastoral  Theology,  which  are  valuable  and  wise. 

He  was  a  brave  man,  and  his  unpleasant  position  in  certain 
ecclesiastical  trials  and  in  other  matters  was  taken  solely  as  a 
stern  duty,  and  I  can  testify  to  the  great  reluctance  with  which  he 
prosecuted  the  cases  of  the  bishops.  Only  conscientious  feelings 
forced  him  to  take  this  painful  stand,  though  some  have  said  that 
it  was  from  differences  in  churchmanship.  I  have  given  my  tes- 
timony to  his  courage  and  boldness,  and  yet  his  reluctance  to 
engage  in  the  trials  of  the  bishops,  save  at  the  command  of  con- 
science.    I  might  have  added  the  testimony  of  Bishop  Johns  and 


Trials  of  the  Bishops.  135 

John  H.  Hopkins  on  this  point,  which  is  absohitely  convincing 
as  to  his  motives,  and  as  to  his  part,  not  being  the  first  to 
start  it,  but  only  yielding  to  his  absolute  duty  under  the  law  of 
conscience  and  the  canons  of  the  Church. 

Bishop  Johns  shows  from  the  record  that  Bishop  Meade  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  trial  of  Bishop  H.  A.  Onderdonk  till 
placed  on  the  committee  in  the  House  of  Bishops,  and  there  is  no 
evidence  of  his  action  there,  further  than  to  concur  in  the  report 
and  resolution  submitted  to  the  House.  In  Bishop  B.  T.  Onder- 
donk's  trial,  of  the  three  presenting  Bishops,  Bishop  Meade  was 
the  last  who  agreed  to  engage  in  the  enquiry.  His  name  precedes 
the  other  two  because  he  was  their  senior.  In  Bishop  Doane's 
case,  Bishop  Meade  was  neither  foremost,  nor  did  he  yield  to  the 
canonical  requisition,  until  he  had  tried,  as  far  as  allowable,  to 
excuse  himself  from  the  painful  duty. 

Bishop  Hopkins  (in  True  Church  Principles)  says  :  "  Bishop 
Meade  stands  in  no  need  of  defence  from  me.  His  life  is  his  de- 
fence, and  I  would  to  God  that  we  could  all  appeal  to  the 
same  evidence  with  equal  safety.  Our  learned  antagonist,  how- 
ever, seems  to  think  it  matter  of  reproach  that  this  eminent  man 
has  been  the  leader  in  all  the  presentments  against  bishops.  But 
who  has  a  right  to  impeach  the  honesty  of  his  motives,  or  the 
utility  of  his  labors,  in  this  most  thankless  and  yet  most  important 
part  of  his  official  duty  ?  Assuredly  there  are  thousands  in  our 
land  who  have  cordially  approved  it,  while  yet  there  might  not 
be  one  amongst  them  all  who  would  have  undergone  the  odium, 
toil  and  trouble  of  the  task.  As  to  myself,  I  lay  no  claim  to  the 
Christian  boldness  and  fearlessness  which  it  required.  But  yet 
I  should  esteem  it  an  honor,  far  beyond  any  in  my  reach  if  my 
epitaph  could  say,  '  Here  lies  the  body  of  a  bishop  who  was 
distinguished  beyond  all  his  brethren  for  his  zealous,  sincere  and 
consistent  support  of  pure  Church  discipline.'  " 

In  1 84 1  he  spent  four  months  in  England,  enjoying  its 
churches,  castles  and  beautiful  scenery,  una  wed  by  its  titles  and 
style,  and  not  caring  to  be  called  My  lyord  Bishop.  Asked  what 
he  most  admired  in  England,  he  said  "  the  Southdown  sheep," 
and  a  gentleman  sent  him  some,  which  he  greatly  valued. 

In  1841  Bishop  Moore  died,  and  in  1842  Bishop  Johns  was  elec- 
ted Assistant  to  Bishop  Meade,  and  the  relationship  between  them 
for  twenty  years  was  most  loving  and  cordial.     After  the  conven- 


136  Meade  and  Johns. 

tion,  Bishop  Meade  embraced  the  opportunity  to  say  to  the  Assist- 
ant Bishop,  "  I  will  aid  you  in  making  the  appointments  till  you 
have  visited  all  the  churches,  and  then  you  can  arrange  them  to  suit 
yourself.     The   Diocese  is  before  you;  whatever  you  find  to  be 
done,  do  it,   except  matters  of   discipline  and  letters  dimissory. 
These  I  am  obliged  to  attend  to  myself.     In  all  other  respects  the 
whole  Diocese  is  open  to  you,  without  the  necessity  of  a  reference 
to  me,  unless  when  you  desire  information  or  counsel ;  only  let 
us  be  careful  so  to  arrange  our  movements  that  each  parish  may 
be  visited  at  least  once  in  eighteen  months,  that  all  may  be  regu- 
larly and  equally  served.     We  will  meet  statedly  at  convention, 
at  the  examinations  of  the  Seminary  and  High  School,  and  as 
often  as  may  be  convenient,  and  in  the  intervals  communicate  by 
letter."    The  only  instance  in  which  he  manifested  dissatisfaction 
was  connected  with  a  series  of  appointments  published  by  Bishop 
Johns  in  reference  to  a  part  of  which  Bishop  Meade  proposed  the 
substitution  of  other  places  which  he  thought  had  not  received 
their   proper   proportion  of  Episcopal   services  ;    Bishop   Johns 
explained  that  he  had  visited  those  places  in  regular  rotation, 
and  was  not  yet  due  there  again,  but  would  certainly  make  the 
change  if  the  Bishop  so  directed.     The   next   mail   brought  a 
a   reply  requesting  that  Bishop  Johns  would   never   again  use 
that  odious  word  "  direct  "  in  such  connection.     This  is  the  only 
instance  of  interference  or  whisper  of  dissatisfaction  during  the 
constant  and  intimate  intercourse  of  twenty  years.     The  occur- 
rence was  a  small  matter,  but  in   its  spirit   and  singleness  very 
significant  of  character.     It  shows  the  true  greatness  of  the  man. 

I  did  not  attend  the  Convention  when  Bishop  Johns  was  elected. 
Bishop  Meade  made  no  secret  of  wanting  Johns  and  that  settled 
the  question.  Dr.  Cobbs,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Alabama,  was 
very  popular,  had  most  cordial  and  gracious  manners,  and  Dr. 
lyippett  voted  for  him. 

I  wish  I  could  recall  some  of  the  many  pleasant  memories  I  have 
of  Bishop  Meade's  unvarying  and  devoted  interest  in  the  Seminary 
and  in  the  whole  Church.  On  his  return  from  the  General  Con- 
vention he  would  tell  of  all  its  interesting  discussions  and  events. 
He  had  the  greatest  weight  in  the  House  of  Bishops.  Bishop 
Alonzo  Potter,  of  Pennsylvania,  father  of  Bishop  Henry  C.  Pot- 
ter, told  a  friend  :  "  There's  a  man  lying  on  the  sofa.  Often  he 
seems  tired  and  lets  the  others  talk,  but  he  gets  up  now  and  then 


His  Sermons.  137 

and  has  things  his  own  way."  Alonzo  Potter  was  a  man  of  com- 
manding intellect,  and  one  of  the  greatest  bishops  of  our  Church. 
He  delivered  the  "  lyowell  Lectures"  in  Boston,  each  occupying 
one  hour  and  exhibiting  the  closest  thought,  without  a  note. 

Once,  when  preaching  in  Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  Governor 
Henry  A.  Wise  was  in  the  congregation.  I  was  present  myself. 
Bishop  Meade  had  a  habit  of  looking  steadfastly  at  the  congre- 
gation while  sitting  in  the  chancel.  In  his  sermon  he  spoke 
against  duelling,  and,  among  other  things,  said  that  "in  the  day 
of  judgment  the  duelist  would  be  shown  to  be  an  arrant  cow- 
ard. ' '  The  next  day  Governor  Wise  wrote  to  complain  of  his 
personal  allusion  to  him,  as  he  had  shortly  before  been  engaged 
in  a  duel,  and  he  thought  that  the  Bishop  fixed  his  eyes  upon 
him  as  he  spoke.  The  Bishop  assured  him  that  he  had  not 
known  that  he  was  present,  and  as  his  eyes  rested  on  him  he 
had  taken  him,  with  his  white  tie,  for  one  of  the  theological  stu- 
dents. He  showed  him  the  sermon,  which,  with  that  very  pass- 
age, had  been  written  ten  years  before,  and  had  been  borrowed 
by  Governor  Wise's  first  wife.  He  showed  us  the  sermon  and 
Wise's  letter. 

When  Bishop  Meade  first  visited  Staunton  he  sent  notice  of 
his  coming  to  the  Episcopalians,  who  had  no  church,  and  asked 
the  Presbyterian  minister,  Mr.  Calhoun,  to  give  out  the  notice, 
which  he  did.  He  went  on  to  say  :  "I  must  warn  my  people 
against  going  to  these  services.  Episcopacy  is  a  weed  that  grows 
apace,  and,  once  rooted,  is  hard  to  take  up.  There  is  a  book 
called  '  The  Episcopal  Manual,'  written  by  a  Dr.  Wilmer,  and  I 
advise  you  not  to  read  it.  A  bishop  is  a  wolf  in  sheep's  cloth- 
ing." The  people,  being  used  to  few  menageries  in  those  days, 
determined  to  go  to  this  one,  so  well  advertised,  and  finding 
Bishop  Meade,  with  his  musical  voice  and  earnest,  impressive 
preaching,  so  different  from  what  had  been  said,  a  most  favora- 
ble impression  was  made  and  a  church  was  at  once  started,  and 
now  there  are  two  strong  Episcopal  churches  there  and,  I  think, 
only  one  Presbyterian  church. 

Bishop  Meade  told  me  that  he  had  seen  Thomas  Jefferson  in 
church  at  Charlottesville.  Jefferson  always  treated  ministers  with 
great  respect.  Dr.  Keith  once  spent  a  night  at  his  house.  I  saw 
in  Baltimore,  at  the  home  of  a  Jewish  Rabbi,  Simon  Wolf, 
two  New  Testaments  from  which  Jefferson  had  cut  out  all  the 


138  His  Last  Days. 

words  of  Jesus  Christ.     At  Edge  Hill  Dr.  Norton  saw  the  pas- 
sages that  had  been  cut  out. 

I  once  went  to  Baltimore  with  Bishop  Meade  in  behalf  of  the 
Seminar^',  dined  with  Charles  Howard,  a  generous,  noble  man, 
who  had  the  most  wonderful  influence  as  a  preacher,  though  he 
was  not  an  orator.  It  was  a  delightful  day  full  of  pleasant  and 
profitable  talk. 

The  Bishop  was  a  beautiful  reader  and  when  asked  how  he  had 
learned  to  read  so  well,  replied,  "  My  mother  taught  me." 

At  the  separation  of  the  States  and  Dioceses  by  the  Civil  War, 
he  became  the  Presiding  Bishop  of  the  Church  in  the  Confederate 
States,  and  his  last  service  was  at  the  consecration  of  Rev.  Rich- 
ard H.  Wilmer,  son  of  his  friend  and  co-worker,  as  Bishop  of 
Alabama,  March  6,  1862,  dying  a  week  later. 

He  was  buried  in  Hollywood,  and  a  handsome  monument 
erected,  but  after  the  war  was  removed  to  the  burying  ground  of 
the  Seminary.  Richard  Kidder  Meade,  his  father,  was  a  dis- 
tinguished officer  and  a  great  friend  of  General  Washington, 
whose  parting  with  his  ofiicers  was  most  affectionate  and  affect- 
ing. The  General  said  to  Meade,  "  Dick,  you'll  make  a  good 
farmer. ' ' 


CHAPTER  XV. 
MISSIONARIES  AND  MARTYRS. 

THIS  Seminary  has  always  cultivated  the  missionary  spirit 
among  the  students  and  they  have  nobly  responded.  All 
the  foreign  mission  stations  of  the  Church  have  been  founded, 
I  think,  by  our  alumni. 

The  Rev.  John  H.  Hill,  class  of  1830,  went  as  missionary  to 
Greece,  taking  his  wife.  In  1S32  for  $600  he  purchased  a  lot 
twenty  feet  from  the  four  beautiful  Doric  columns  which  still 
adorn  the  site  of  the  ancient  Agora  on  which  to  erect  a  hou.se  for 
the  girls'  school.  In  1833  the  building  was  completed,  of  stone, 
72  feet  long  and  30  broad,  two  stories  above  ground  and  one  be- 
low. Rev.  Dr.  Whitehouse  who  visited  Greece  in  1834  writes  of 
it :  "In  the  schools  all  is  successful,  and  with  unfeigned  aston- 
ishment we  beheld  the  results  of  labors  comparatively  so  short 
and  exercised  under  such  unpromising  circumstances."  As  a 
mark  of  the  respect  in  which  the  schools  were  held  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Greece,  one  of  the  young  women  educated  by  Mrs. 
Hill  was  by  its  order  selected  to  conduct  the  Government 
Primary  School  at  Napoli,  and  further  twelve  girls  were  placed 
under  Mrs.  Hill's  care  with  a  view  to  their  becoming  future  teach- 
ers at  the  public  expense. 

When  Hill  was  a  student  he  was  very  fond  of  fast  horses  and 
kept  one  to  drive.  He  was  thought  too  complaisant  to  the  Greek 
Church  and  Dr.  Andrews  criticised  him  for  allowing  Greek 
priests  to  catechise  his  school  children  and  conniving  at  some  su- 
perstitions. We  cannot  always  judge  fairly  at  a  distance.  Rev. 
Dr.  King,  a  Presbyterian  missionary,  opposed  the  Greek  Church 
and  his  house  was  destroyed  by  a  mob  and  the  city  had  to  pay 
$20,000,  but  his  mission  ended. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Missions  in  1834,  ^  resolution 
was  adopted  authorizing  the  establishment  of  a  mission  in  China. 

In  1835  the  Revs.  Henry  Lockwood  and  Francis  R.  Hanson 
were  appointed  missionaries  to  China,  and  on  June  2,  the  mis- 
sionaries sailed  from  New  York  for  Canton,  being  the  first  mis- 
sionaries who  came  near  entering  China.     William  Boone  found 

139 


140  Bishop  Boone. 

Hanson  and  lyockwood  at  their  post  when  he  went  out.  I  knew 
Hill  and  Hanson. 

I  saw  much  of  Bishop  Boone,  and  thought  him  one  of  the 
greatest  missionaries  I  have  known.  He  was  an  interesting  man 
in  every  way,  genial,  yet  thoughtful  and  profound.  Seventeen 
men  offered  themselves  from  this  Seminary  to  go  with  him  to  China 
and  he  raised  twenty  thousand  dollars  for  the  mission.  I  remember 
his  telling  me  that  he  had  drank  tea  in  China  worth  twenty  dol- 
lars a  pound.  I  went  up  to  Washington  with  him  and  introduced 
him  to  President  Pierce.  He  carried  a  Chinaman  along  and  we 
all  went  in  a  party  to  dine  at  Brown's  Hotel,  and  we  were  the 
observed  of  all  observers,  as  the  Chinese  were  very  rare  in  this 
country  then  (1854).  The  story  has  been  told  of  Bishop  Boone's 
ability  and  devotion  as  a  missionary,  of  his  working  on  his  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible  into  Chinese,  with  his  feet  in  water  and  his 
head  bound  with  wet  towels.  Two  of  his  sons  were  at  our  Semi- 
nary. Rev.  William  J.  Boone  (2)  became  Bishop  of  China,  and 
Rev.  Thomas  Boone  served  in  the  ministry  here. 

When  I  came,  Payne,  Savage  and  Minor  were  just  preparing 
to  go  to  their  mission  fields.  They  had  been  class-mates  at  the 
Seminary,  and  they  used  to  have  a  praying  circle  which  met  once 
a  week  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  for  prayer  and  converse  as 
to  the  duty  of  going  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  heathen.  Payne 
in  his  diary,  January,  1835,  speaks  of  a  "most  thrilling  appeal 
in  behalf  of  Foreign  Missions  by  brother  Boone.  Never  was  I 
so  deeply  affected.  O  Lord,  shall  I  go  ?  He  that  will  not  leave 
father  and  mother,  house  and  home,  for  My  sake  is  not  worthy 
of  Me.  O  Ivord,  thou  hast  created  me.  Thou  hast  preserved  me. 
Thou  hast  redeemed  me.  *  *  *  I  am  Thy  servant  and  am 
bound  by  the  most  weighty  obligatians  of  duty  and  of  love  to 
honor  and  serve  Thee  all  the  days  of  my  life.  O  lyord,  here  I 
am.  If  it  be  Thy  will,  send  me. ' '  '  'After  mature  deliberation  and 
full  survey  of  the  risk  to  life  and  health,  brother  Minor  and  my- 
self determined  to  devote  ourselves  to  preaching  the  gospel  in 
Africa." 

"  Dr.  Keith  said  that  with  our  views  of  a  fitness  for  heaven, 
he  did  not  see  how  any  heathen  could  be  saved  without  Christ. 
We  hear  of  none  that  live  up  to  their  light.  My  heart  seemed 
to  burn  within  me  to   labor  for  their  welfare.     *     *     *     The 


Bishop  Payne.  141 

Professor  thought  that  I,  less  qualified  than  the  others,  should 
still  press  on,  as  I  might  be  eminently  useful  as  a  missionary." 

"  Mr.  Abeel,  the  Chinese  missionary,  came  to  converse  with  us 
individually.  He  made  no  distinction  in  favor  of  any  peculiar 
qualification,  but  thought  all  were  bound  to  go,  unless  they  could 
show  good  reasons  why  they  should  not.  Oh,  may  I  imitate  the 
faithfulness  of  Abeel,  who  spoke  to  every  one  he  met  about  sal- 
vation, and  remember  always  the  interests  of  the  heathen,  the 
glory  of  God." 

Never,  I  think,  was  there  a  more  pious  or  saintly  man  than 
Bishop  Payne.  He  was  not  an  attractive  preacher,  though  what 
he  said  was  always  most  interesting.  I  remember  his  giving  an 
account  of  one  time  when  they  were  all  about  to  be  murdered  by 
the  savages,  when  a  vessel  came,  just  in  time.  His  life  ought  to 
have  been  written.  There  was  much  material  for  it,  as  he  had 
always  kept  a  diary,  and  it  would  have  had  great  interest,  for  he 
had  been  thirty-two  years  in  Africa,  and  yet  he  was  told  by  the 
doctors  that  it  would  be  death  for  him  to  go  there  with  his  bilious 
temperament.  I  recall  his  saying  that  the  heat  there  was  not  as 
great  as  it  is  here  at  times,  but  it  was  about  the  same,  80°,  all 
the  year  round,  and  never  below  60°.  This  was  depressing  to 
the  constitution.  When  it  was  rainy  or  cool  he  would  put  on  his 
overcoat,  but  fire  was  not  needed,  except  for  cooking. 

The  natives,  he  said,  were  great  believers  in  greasing  or  oiling 
themselves,  and  he  found  it  at  times  beneficial.  He  was  twice 
married,  and  he  told  me  the  natives  could  not  see  any  difference 
between  having  two  wives  at  once  and  having  one  after  the  other. 
Polygamy  has  ever  been  one  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to  Christ- 
ianity there.  The  Mohammedans,  of  course,  never  had  this  dif- 
ficulty in  their  work,  as  the  Koran  allows  four  wives. 

Mrs.  Payne  was  once  terrified  at  seeing  a  boa,  which  had 
climbed  up  by  a  tree,  in  her  room,  and  could  only  whisper  "  hus- 
band, husband."  Dr.  Savage  told  me  that  they  made  such  a 
noise  in  the  stubble  or  brush  that  they  were  not  greatly  feared. 

L,auncelot  B.  Minor,  uncle  of  h-  M.  Blackford,  M.  A.,  whose 
sister  long  lived  at  the  Episcopal  High  School,  was  ordained  in 
1836,  and,  after  arousing  great  interest  in  the  mission  by  preach- 
ing throughout  Virginia,  went  out  to  Africa  with  Payne  in  1837. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Ivocke,  of  Albemarle,  went  down  the  river  with 


142  Dr.  T.  S.  Savage. 

Mrs.  Minor,  who  was  then  blind,  and  her  son  Ivauncelot,  on  his 
way  to  Africa. 

When  a  student  here,  young  Minor  was  most  devoted  and  most 
beloved.  He  used  to  walk  up  frequently  to  Falls  Church,  six 
miles,  where  he  taught  Sunday-school  and  held  service  and  visited 
them  in  the  week,  and  he  was  delegate  from  there  in  1836. 
Bishop  Meade  in  his  convention  address,  1838,  spoke  of  him 
most  highly  :  "  By  his  untiring  zeal  and  most  affectionate  man- 
ners he  soon  collected  a  large  Sunday-school,  and  in  losing  him 
parents  and  children  thought  they  had  lost  their  all."  He  was 
tall,  lithe,  strong  and  very  active. 

Falls  Church,  built  in  1762,  had  been  given  up  by  the  Episco- 
pal minister  in  1798,  when  Bishop  Madison  paid  his  first  and  last 
visit  to  it.  The  professors  and  students  had  revived  it  before 
this  time,  and  Mr.  Minor's  noble  work  there  helped  it  on. 

L.  B.  Minor  was  a  man  of  wonderful  energy  and  many  attrac- 
tions. I  saw  him  when  he  returned  from  Africa  on  a  visit,  and 
he  told  me  he  had  seen  mountains  in  the  interior  of  Africa  and  he 
meant  to  get  on  top  of  them.  Bishop  Payne  told  me  that  one 
day  Minor  walked  forty  miles  on  the  burning  sand,  and  these  im- 
prudences and  over-exertion  shortened  his  life.  Minor  said  that 
the  natives  ate  monkeys  and  told  him  they  were  very  good  eat- 
ing and  he  ate  them  himself.  Would  Darwin  have  considered 
this  a  modified  cannibalism  ?  The  toilsome  but  untiring  labors, 
the  glorious  self-devotion  and  the  lonely  death  of  Minor  are 
recorded  on  high. 

Rev.  Dr.  T.  S.  Savage,  born  June  7,  1804,  (father  of  Rev.  W. 
R.  Savage)  I  knew  well.  He  studied  medicine  before  going  to 
Africa,  so  as  to  be  more  useful.  He  was  a  born  naturalist  and 
did  a  great  deal  for  science,  which  was  fully  acknowledged  by 
the  British  societies  and  by  such  scientists  as  Owen  and  Huxley, 
with  whom  he  corresponded.  He  was  the  original  discoverer  of 
the  gorilla,  sending  over  to  England  the  first  skull  and  skeleton 
of  it  ever  seen,  and  it  was  first  named  in  honor  of  him  Tro- 
glodytes Savagii,  and  he  later  on  suggested  the  name  gorilla,  and 
this  was  years  before  Paul  du  Chaillu  went  to  Africa. 

Dr.  Savage  said  that  one  of  the  negro  colonists  who  went  out 
to  Liberia  saw  in  one  of  the  native  huts  a  chimpanzee,  dressed  in 
the  same  ornaments  (not  to  call  it  clothing)  as  the  people,  and 
looking  like  a  wizened  old  woman.     "Well,"   said  the  negro, 


Smith  and  Hening.  i43 

"  they  told  me  I  would  see  some  of  my  ancestors  over  here,  and 
this  must  be  one  of  them  " — an  unwitting  confirmation  of  Darwin's 
theory  of  descent  ! 

He  married  Miss  Susan  Metcalf  of  Fredericksburg  and  they 
sailed  from  Baltimore  November  i6.  1836,  but  she  died  one  month 
after  reaching  Liberia.  With  other  things  he  carried  out  the 
frame  of  a  dwelling  thinking  thus  to  modify  the  severity  of  the 
acclimatization  of  the  missionaries.  His  medical  knowledge  was 
of  great  service  to  the  mission. 

Rev.  Joshua  Smith,  of  Connecticut,  graduate  of  Yale,  was  the 
next  missionary  to  Africa  from  Norfolk,  in  February,  1840. 
Joshua  Smith  was  peculiar  in  some  ways.  When  he  went  as 
missionary  to  Africa,  he  said  farewell  just  as  if  going  to  Baltimore. 
One  night  in  Africa  the  boys  woke  him  with  their  noise,  and  going 
into  the  school-room  he  found  a  boa  eating  his  dog.  He  dis- 
covered the  hole  by  which  he  entered,  stationed  the  boys  there 
and  killed  him.     He  and  S.  Hazlehurst  returned  from  Africa  in 

1844. 

E.  W.  Hening  went  to  Africa  in  1844  and  I  preached  at  his 
ordination  as  deacon,  and  as  priest  when  he  came  back  blind 
from  fever,  and  had  to  be  led  to  the  chancel.  When  Mr.  Hen- 
ing returned  from  Africa  with  his  motherless  child,  Mrs.  Sparrow 
adopted  her,  in  addition  to  her  own  large  family,  and  her  early 
death  brought  the  deepest  sorrow  to  the  family.  In  a  letter  she 
wrote:  "  I  have  not  received  such  a  wound  for  many  long  years. 
We  had  forgotten  she  was  not  of  our  own  blood.  *  *  *  All 
loved  her  as  a  child  or  sister." 

Dr.  May  took  the  deepest  interest  in  missions  and  missionaries, 
and  was  the  one  who,  after  Bishop  WilHam  Boone,  did  the  most, 
humanly  speaking,  to  make  and  keep  this  a  missionary  Seminary, 
by  his  letters,  conversations  and  addresses.  He  and  Mrs.  May 
were  given  to  hospitality,  and  they  were  never  more  happy  than 
when  entertaining  missionaries,  as  if  they  were  entertaining 
angels,  not  unawares.  Mr.  Hoffman  said  of  his  letters  :  "  No 
letters  ever  comforted  me  more  than  his — so  cheerful,  so  warm, 
from  his  very  heart  of  hearts." 

Mrs.  C.  Golden  Hoffman  came  here  as  a  bride  just  before  leav- 
ing for  Africa.  She  was  a  Miss  Virginia  Hale,  whose  sister  had 
married  Mr.  Richard  Dixon,  of  Norfolk  (Mrs.  Bishop  Johns' 
brother) .     I  was  at  the  Norfolk  Convention  when  Hoffman  first 


144  CoLDEN  Hoffman. 

met  her  and  I  heard  he  was  paying  her  attention.  As  the  Hoff- 
mans  were  leaving,  the  students  formed  in  two  lines,  through 
which  the  carriage  passed,  and  sang  "  From  Greenland's  Icy 
Mountains. ' '     It  was  most  impressive  and  inspiring. 

I  recall  a  missionary  sermon  by  Dr.  May,  who  was  regularly 
employed  by  the  Board  of  Missions  to  preach  for  them,  in  which 
he  alluded  to  Mrs.  Hoffman:  "When  I  took,  in  parting,  the 
hand  of  this  dear  friend  and  beautiful  young  woman,  I  said  : 
'  Oh,  why  this  waste? '  but  thank  God,  I  found  it  in  my  heart  to 
add  (his  eye  flashing  and  stamping  his  foot),  '  Let  the  alabaster 
box  be  broken  and  the  precious  ointment  be  shed.'  "  It  made  a 
great  impression,  as  he  was  not  usually  animated,  and  Dr.  Whar- 
ton, hearing  of  it,  said  he  wished  he  could  have  been  there  to 
have  seen  him. 

Some  years  ago  the  Bishops  of  China  and  Africa,  Boone  and 
Payne,  visited  the  Seminary  on  successive  evenings,  and  were 
much  disappointed  at  not  meeting  each  other. 

At  the  consecration  of  Aspinwall  Hall,  in  1859,  Bishop  Johns 
made  one  of  the  addresses,  which  I,  with  many,  consider  one  of 
his  best,  and  in  speaking  of  the  missionary  character  of  the  Sem- 
inary said  :  "And  now,  if  you  could  hail  that  noble  ship  which 
has  doubled  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  heading  east  is,  I  trust, 
careering  under  full  sail  to  her  destination,  you  would  hear 
'  Golde7i  Rule,  from  New  York  to  Shanghai,  eighty-three  days 
out — all  well.'  As  she  sweeps  by,  you  may  recognize,  in 
the  interesting  group  on  the  quarter-deck,  faces  familiar  to  us  all 
— who  have  forsaken  all  for  Jesus— and,  under  the  power  of  His 
constraining  love,  are  panting  to  publish  it  to  the  teeming  mil- 
Hons  of  China. ' '  There  were  on  board  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Spar- 
row, and  her  husband,  Dudley  D.  Smith,  Elliott  H.  Thomson, 
Thomas  S.  Yocum,  James  F.  Doyen,  Henry  Purdon,  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Henry  M.  Parker.  All  of  the  men  were  from  the  class 
of  '59  in  our  Seminary,  going  to  China. 

Cleveland  Keith,  son  of  Professor  Keith,  was  a  missionary  to 
China  and  was  lost  in  the  burning  of  the  Goldoi  Gate,  when  re- 
turning to  this  country.  He  exhorted  to  the  last  his  fellow-pas- 
sengers to  flee  to  that  Saviour  who  was  near  his  servants  in  that 
awful  hour. 

Henry  M.  Parker  of  Massachusetts  (1859),  the  brave  mission- 


The  Missionary  Spirit.  i45 

ary  to  China,  sang  at  family  prayers  the  night  before  he  was 

killed, 

"  With  joy  shall  I  behold  the  day 
That  calls  my  willing  soul  away." 

He  had  gladly  offered  himself  and  his  possessions  to  Christ, 
unlike  the  rich  young  man  in  the  Gospel.  Attempting  to  stop 
the  shedding  of  blood  and  prevent  the  atrocities  of  heathen  war- 
fare, he  with  another  missionary  was  literally  hewn  to  pieces  and 
his  mangled  remains  were  cast  out  on  the  open  field. 

Time  would  fail  one  to  name  the  fifty-eight  mission- 
aries who  have  gone  forth  from  this  Seminary.  "  We  ask  not 
for  it  riches  nor  the  praise  of  men,  but  this  thing  that  it  may  be 
a  missionary  institution,"  so  I  said  when  Hening  was  ordained, 
and  so  it  has  been. 

The  youngest  foreign  mission  of  our  Church,  Brazil,  has  from 
the  first  excited  my  deepest  sympathy  from  the  noble  men  who 
went  out  as  pioneers,  Lucien  lyce  Kinsolving,  now  Bishop,  and 
James  W.  Morris,  and  those  who  have  gone  to  aid  them,  and 
from  ray  own  daughter  going  as  a  missionary  worker. 

These  missionaries  as  they  return  and  tell  us  of  the  work,  its 
needs  and  its  rewards,  keep  alive  the  missionary  spirit,  which  is 
the  Spirit  of  Christ. 

The  flame  of  missionary  spirit  and  inquiry,  which  was  kindled 
here  first  of  all  seminaries,  has  never  been  quenched.  The  ex- 
ample and  memories  of  our  missionaries  and  the  high  view  of 
Christian  duty  taught  with  such  plainness  on  this  Hill  have  been 
the  chief  cause  of  the  foremost  consideration  given  to  the  mis- 
sionary work  as  the  natural  and  ordinary  field  of  occupation  for 
a  minister  of  Christ.  This  honor  and  glory  of  the  Seminary 
remain  undiminished  by  time,  and  its  martys— Minor  and  Parker 
and  many  others — will  be  remembered  forever. 

Among  the  martyrs  should  be  named  Revs.  WiUiam  M.  Jackson 
and  James  Chisholm,  who  died  of  the  yellow  fever  in  Norfolk 
and  Portsmouth.  Mr.  Jackson  was  singularly  gentle  in  manner, 
a  persuasive  preacher,  and  as  a  pastor  seldom  equalled  for  self- 
denial  and  devotion.  In  perfect  self-abnegation,  in  the  discharge 
of  dangerous  and  loathsome  duty,  he  died  gloriously,  having 
soothed  the  dying  hours  of  the  plague-stricken  and  the  afflicted. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  Mr.  Chisholm,  of  whom  we  have  further 
to  say,  that,  while  small  in  stature  and  modest,  reserved  and 


146  Jackson  and  Chisholm. 

retiring,  lie  was  a  man  of  marked  talent  and  acquirements,  a  dis- 
tinguished graduate  of  Harvard,  an  accurate  scholar,  the  most 
painstaking  sermonizer.  He  laid  all  at  his  Master's  feet  and  died 
a  martyr  to  his  duty  the  same  summer  of  1855. 

Of  them  I  can  quote  the  lines  written  by  the  Primate  of  Ire- 
land in  memory  of  a  young  curate,  the  most  beautiful  epitaph 

of  the  last  century  : 

"  Down  through  our  crowded  walks  and  closer  air, 

O  friend,  how  beautiful  thy  footsteps  were  ! 

"When  through  the  fever's  fire  at  last  they  trod, 

A  form  was  with  them  like  the  Son  of  God, 

'  Twas  but  one  step  for  those  victorious  feet 

From  their  day's  path  into  the  golden  street ; 
And  we  who  watched  their  walk,  so  bright,  so  brief, 
Have  marked  this  marble  with  our  hope  and  grief." 

In  this  pestilence  2,500  persons  died  and  there  was  great  diffi- 
culty in  procuring  coffins.  Some  poor  old  woman  had  secured  a 
coffin  which  she  kept  lying  on  her  floor  with  her  hand  on  it,  that 
if  she  died  she  might  be  properly  buried.  The  man  who  carried 
out  the  dead  coming  in  and  seeing  an  empty  coffin  said,  "  Missus 
can  you  just  lend  me  that  coffin  ;    I  will  bring  you  another  by 

and  by?" 

Old  Mr.  Wickham,  of  Hickory  Hill,  Virginia,  who  died  about 
twenty  years  ago,  had  a  favorite  walnut  tree  cut  down,  sawed 
into  planks,  and  seasoned  in  his  office,  from  which  wood  his 
coffin  was  to  be  made. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Wolff,  missionary  (as  he  signed  himself)  pub- 
lished his  travels  and  labors  in  the  East  just  as  I  came  to  Vir- 
ginia, and  visited  us  in  1 840.  He  was  ordained  Deacon  by  Bishop 
Doane  who  examined  him,  and  asking  how  a  pump  worked, 
Wolff  illustrated  it  by  working  his  arms  up  and  down.  He  re- 
ceived a  roving  commission  and  went  about  preaching.  He  went 
all  over  the  Eastern  countries,  saw  the  descendants  of  Jonadab, 
the  Rechabites,  and  near  the  Euphrates,  some  Jews  who  were  half 
Christians,  and  some  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist  from  the  time  of 
his  beheading.  They  had  a  yearly  baptizing  unto  repentance  and 
he  was  there  on  the  day  of  baptism.  Each  one  went  into  the 
water  with  the  ministrant,  knelt  down,  and  water  was  poured 
over  the  head  with  a  form  of  words.  He  was  a  Jew  him- 
self, brave  and  zealous,  but  very  eccentric.  In  his  book  he  gave 
as  recommendation  from  the  Quarterly  Review  "  The  Rev.  Joseph 


Anecdotes  of  Missionaries.  i47 

Wolff,  a  religious  fanatic,"  and  states  "that  Dr.  Seabury, 
editor  of  the  New  York  Churchman,  has  declared  me  to  be  insane. ' ' 
He  married  an  English  lady.  Once  when  he  went  off  knowing 
his  absentmindedness,  she  charged  him  to  put  on  a  clean  shirt  every 
day.  On  his  return  she  found  no  shirts  in  the  bag,  and  found 
that  he  had  them  all  (six)  on  his  person. 

Rev.  John  Liggins  (1855)  is  another  missionary  graduate  who 
went  to  China  in  1856,  and  from  thence  to  Japan,  being  the  first 
missionary  to  Japan.  He  arrived  at  Nagasaki  May  2,  1859,  and 
was  joined  a  month  later  by  the  Rev.  CM.  Williams,  who  after- 
wards became  the  first  Bishop  of  Japan,  and  who  now  labors  in 
his  quiet,  holy  and  influential  way  in  the  land  to  which  he  has 
given  his  whole  life  and  energies. 

Mr.  Iviggins  has  written  many  able  articles  and  works  in  aid  of 
the  missionary  cause  and  is  still  active.  Time  would  fail  to  men- 
tion all  our  missionaries  ;  their  names  are  marked  with  a  cross 
in  our  Catalogue. 

The  General  Convention  of  1835  gave  a  great  impulse  to  the 
missionary  work  of  the  Church  by  establishing  The  Constitution 
of  the  Board  of  Missions,  making  every  baptised  member  of  the 
same  a  member  of  its  missionary  organization  ;  and  its  new  plan 
of  apportioning  a  definite  amount  to  each  diocese  and  each  parish 
promises  to  be  another  forward  step  in  arousing  the  Church  to 
its  great  mission. 

One  of  our  missionaries  to  Africa  had  promised  in  case  of  his 
wife's  death,  that  she  should  be  buried  at  her  old  home  in  Vir- 
ginia. She  did  die  in  Africa  and  her  remains  were  sent  by  sail- 
ing vessel  to  this  country.  A  short  time  after  he  married  again 
and  his  leave  of  absence  falling  due,  he  and  his  bride  started 
home  by  steamer.  When  he  reached  Richmond  he  met  his 
brother-in-law  who  told  him  the  remains  of  his  wife  had  just 
come  and  the  burial  would  be  the  next  morning.  He  had  to 
leave  his  bride  at  the  hotel  and  attend  the  first  wife's  burial. 

A  student  once  in  the  Rhetorical  Society  debating  the  compar- 
ative worth  of  the  different  races,  spoke  of  the  elevation  of  the 
negro  being  possible,  for  ' '  you  know  there  was  Scipio  Africanus, 
a  great  man. ' ' 

I  will  take  this  opportunity  to  speak  of  Rev.  John  Cole,  of  the 
class  of  1828,  whom  I  knew  long  and  well,  and  who  deserves  well 
of  our  Seminary  for  his  successful  efforts  for  its  welfare.     He 


148  Rev.  John  Colk. 

was  born  in  Delaware  in  1807,  and  when  still  almost  a  boy  en- 
tered the  Seminary.  He  graduated  in  1828,  and  was  ordained  by 
Bishop  Moore  with  his  class,  May  18,  1828,  being  just  old  enough 
to  receive  Deacon's  Orders.  When  I  knew  him,  about  ten  years 
later,  he  was  a  good  looking  man,  unmarried,  not  so  tall  as  his 
son.  Rev.  J.  Thompson  Cole,  but  quite  stout.  Like  the  Rev. 
William  Friend,  he  did  not  marry  until  quite  late  in  life.  He 
spent  his  entire  ministry  in  this  State,  and  had  charge  of  only  two 
parishes.  As  a  Deacon  he  officiated  in  Prince  George  county,  then 
was  rector  of  Abingdon  and  Ware,  Gloucester  county,  until  1836, 
when  he  went  to  St.  Stephen's  parish,  Culpeper  county,  where 
his  labors  were  greatly  blessed  until  his  death.  Three  churches 
were  built  by  him,  and  were  well  filled  with  worshippers  and 
well  maintained  until  the  war  brought  desolation  to  that  part  of 
Virginia,  the  chief  battle-ground  of  the  war. 

Mr.  Cole  was  a  quiet  man,  easy-going  in  his  ways,  but  most 
earnest  and  uncompromising  in  teaching  and  defending  evan- 
gelical truth.  He  was  very  bold  and  intrepid,  and  entirel}'-  in- 
dependent. He  had  an  unusual  custom  of  having  service  on 
Sunday  at  12  o'clock  or  a  few  minutes  after  and  using  the  Even- 
ing Prayer.  It  may  have  been  because  his  people  had  a  long 
way  to  come  and  because  the  Evening  Prayer  was  shorter. 

Mr.  Cole  was  the  man  who  introduced  the  touching  and  long- 
continued  custom  of  closing  the  labors  of  the  Council  with  the 
singing  on  Sunday  night  of  "The  voice  of  free  grace,"  &c. 
None  who  have  heard  it  in  its  old  fervor  can  ever  forget  its  in- 
spiring effect.  Its  first  use  was  in  this  way  :  At  a  convention 
about  sixty  years  ago,  when  the  clergy  and  the  lay  delegates,  at 
the  close  of  the  services  on  Sunday  night,  were  gathered  around 
the  chancel  to  bid  farewell  to  the  bishops  and  brethern  before 
separating,  Bishop  Moore  called  upon  Mr.  Cole  to  "  raise  a 
hymn."     He  obeyed  by  commencing  : 

"  The  voice  of  free  grace." 

It  was  caught  up  by  all — bishops,  clergy,  delegates  and  worship- 
pers, singing  at  that  touching  hour  of  parting,  and  it  lasted  long 
as  a  beautiful  and  unique  custom  of  the  Virginia  Council. 

Mr.  Cole  opposed  another  custom  which  I  proposed,  and  that 
was  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  at  the  opening  serv- 
ice of  the  Council.     Talking  with  the  Bishop  before   one  of  the 


The  Seminary  Charter.  i49 

meetings,  I  suggested  to  him  how  appropriate  and  edifying  it 
would  be  to  begin  our  labors  with  this  sacrament  of  love,  and  he 
readily  agreed. 

Mr.  Cole  deserves  our  grateful  commemoration  for  his  long 
and  earnest  labors  for  the  Seminary,  and  Dr.  Dalrymple  has  re- 
corded this  in  his  Alumni  Address,  from  which  I  quote.  Mr, 
Cole  was  for  many  years  the  trusted  agent  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, appointed  to  visit  the  parishes  of  the  Diocese  and  secure 
contributions  to  its  endowment  fund.  We  know  not  the  full 
amount  of  his  labors  in  this  regard,  but  when  the  Alumni  under- 
took, in  1853,  to  raise  $50,000  for  endowment,  Mr.  Cole  was  ap- 
pointed as  their  agent  to  make  the  collections.  The  record  of 
his  work  is  carefully  preserved,  and  from  that  it  appears  that  in 
the  two  years  of  his  agency  he  secured  nearly  $40,000.  No  one 
of  the  Alumni,  either  living  or  dead,  has  been  more  abundant  in 
such  labors  than  he.  To  Mr.  Cole's  energy  and  perseverance  is 
due  the  granting  of  our  charter  from  the  Virginia  lyCgislature  of 
1854.  This  had  long  been  desired  by  Bishop  Meade  and  the 
friends  of  the  institution.  Efforts  had  been  made  to  obtain  it 
again  and  again,  but  all  in  vain.  So,  when  Mr.  Cole  sought 
permission  from  Bishop  Meade  to  make  another  effort,  consent 
was  reluctantly  given.  Mr.  Cole  gave  himself  entirely  to  this 
work  ;  he  knew  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  secured  his  good- 
will, and  then  with  rare  sagacity  brought  arguments  to  bear  upon 
the  minds  of  the  members.  At  first  no  response  was  given,  for 
the  State  of  Virginia  was  averse  to  giving  charters  to  any  relig- 
ious or  benevolent  institutions,  from  a  long-established  policy, 
and  even  a  union  of  denominations  had  failed  to  get  such  char- 
ters. The  Presbyterians  and  the  Baptists  also  opposed  us  on  this 
occasion,  fearing  that  it  would  secure  us  some  unusual  advantages. 
Mr.  Cole's  steady  and  placid  perseverance  gained  him  a  hearing 
from  many  who  had  influence  ;  the  manifest  j  ustice  and  propriety 
of  the  application  were  at  last  appreciated,  and  the  act  of  incor- 
poration was  granted  in  a  most  liberal  form.  Every  one  was 
surprised  at  Mr.  Cole's  success,  so  unexpected  and  so  contrary 
to  the  predictions  of  many  and  to  the  experience  of  the  past. 
Our  charter  has  given  us  a  position  and  permanency  which  has 
greatly  aided  our  endowment  fund. 


10 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
ALEXANDRIA   AND    MOUNT  VERNON. 

THIS  Seminary  has  been  generally  called  The  Alexandria 
Seminary  and  was  first  established  there  ;  hence  I  will  say 
something  about  the  old  city  and  the  old  State  and  some  of  the 
people  I  have  known.  Alexandria  was  founded  in  1749,  Mr. 
.William  Ramsay,  ancestor  of  Mr.  G.  William  Ramsay,  being  the 
"first  projector  and  founder  of  this  promising  city."  St.  An- 
drew's Day,  1761,  a  week  before  the  birth  of  my  father,  the  first 
election  of  L,ord  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Council  of  Alexandria 
was  held,  and  William  Ramsay,  above  named,  was  invested  with 
gold  chain  and  medal,  and  a  grand  procession  of  town  and 
country  people  was  formed,  with  drums  beating,  flags  flying,  and 
guns  firing  continuously. 

"  A  very  elegant  entertainment  was  prepared  at  the  Cofiee 
House,  where  the  Lord  Mayor,  Aldermen  and  Common  Council 
dined.  In  the  evening  a  ball  was  given  by  the  Scotch  gentle- 
men, at  which  a  numerous  and  brilliant  company  of  ladies 
danced.  The  night  concluded  with  bonfires,  illuminations,  and 
other  demonstrations  of  joy."  This  is  what  the  Mary/and  Ga- 
zette,  December,  1761,  states. 

Alexandria  was  well  on  its  way  before  many  cities,  now  twenty 
times  as  large,  were  dreamed  of.  It  is  still  a  place  of  historic  in- 
terest, with  Mount  Vernon  on  the  south  and  Arlington  on  the 
north.  From  the  first  some  substantial,  handsome  houses  were 
built  and  one  of  them,  a  square  two-story  building,  is  now  stand- 
ing in  good  condition,  in  which  is  shown  a  large,  square  wains- 
coted room  overlooking  the  Potomac,  where  Major- General 
Braddock  held  a  council  of  war  and  planned  his  march  before 
setting  out  on  his  ill-fated  expedition  against  the  French  and  In- 
dians in  1755.  The  road  which  he  followed  to  the  mountains, 
and  which  he  had  cut  through  the  forest  primeval,  passes  by  the 
Seminary  property  and  is  still  called  Braddock's  Road.  Alexandria 
was  the  headquarters  of  his  army  at  that  early  period,  and  it  was 
there  doubtless  that  Washington  joined  the  expedition  to  Fort 
Duquesne.  Mount  Vernon,  where  George  Washington  was  then 
living,  was  only  ten  miles  below  Alexandria. 

150 


Mount  Vernon.  151 

The  mansion  had  been  built  in  1743,  costing  $10,000,  the  barn 
being  built  later  of  brick  brought  from  England,  it  is  said.  This 
estate  was  always  in  possession  of  the  Washingtons,  descending 
by  will  or  inheritance,  from  the  grant  of  lyord  Culpeper  in  1670  to 
the  time  it  was  sold  to  the  I^adies'  Mount  Vernon  Association  on 
April  6,  1858,  by  John  Augustine  Washington,  son  of  Mrs.  Jean 
Washington,  for  $150,000.  Mount  Vernon  was  the  home  of  George 
and  Martha  Washington  about  fifty  years.  John  Washington, 
great  grandfather  of  George,  died  in  January,  1677,  leaving  the 
place  to  his  son  L,awrence,  who  bequeathed  it  to  his  son  Augustine, 
father  of  the  General.  Augustine  left  it  by  will  to  his  eldest  son. 
Major  Lawrence  Washington,  who  married  Anne,  eldest  daughter 
of  William  Fairfax,  of  Fairfax  county,  Va.  Between  lyawrence 
and  his  half-brother,  George,  fourteen  years  younger,  there  was  a 
remarkable  affection,  and  dying  at  thirty-four,  he  left  the  estate  to 
George,  having  previously  named  it  Mount  Vernon  in  honor  of 
Admiral  Vernon,  under  whom  he  had  served  at  Carthagena. 

About  1752  his  brother  George,  who  had  been  living  there  sev- 
eral years,  inherited  it  from  his  brother  lyawrence,  and  after  his 
marriage  with  Mrs.  Custis,  in  1759,  it  was  the  scene  of  a  generous 
hospitality,  and  the  prominent  men  of  Virginia  visited  there, 
among  whom  the  future  President  had  already  taken  a  high  stand 
before  the  Revolution. 

General  Washington  left  it  to  his  nephew.  Judge  Bushrod 
Washington,  third  child  of  John  A.  Washington,  who  dispensed 
liberal  hospitality  there.  Having  no  children,  he  left  this  prop- 
erty to  his  nephew,  John  A.  Washington,  father  of  John  Augus- 
tine, who  was  at  Bristol  College  with  me,  and  who  sold  it  to  the 
Association.  I  used  to  dine  w.th  him  when  he  owned  it,  and  Mr. 
John  Blackburn  remembers  me  at  a  dinner  there  in  1855  and 
noticed  that  I  took  no  wine,  which  was  unusual. 

I  had  thus  some  acquaintance  with  the  family  at  Mount  Ver- 
non. It  consisted  of  Mrs.  Jean  Washington  and  her  sons  and 
daughter.  After  my  marriage,  as  there  was  no  house  provided 
for  me,  my  present  house  not  having  been  yet  bought  by  the  trus- 
tees, I  boarded  for  some  months  with  Mrs.  Washington's  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Alexander,  who  lived  in  what  is  now  the  dwelling  house 
of  Mr.  Iv.  M.  Blackford.  The  property  afterward  was  bought  from 
the  Alexanders  by  the  Seminary  for  the  Episcopal  High  School. 
Mrs.  Washington  invited  my  wife  and  myself  to  spend  a  week  at 
Mount  Vernon,  towards  the  spring  of  the  year  in  which  I  was  mar- 


152  My  Stay  at  Mount  Vernon. 

ried.  1838.  It  was  a  week  of  great  enjoyment.  I  had  to  return 
to  the  Seminary  to  my  duties  some  days  and  would  walk  back  in 
the  evenings. 

A  party  of  seventeen  young  ladies  were  staying  there,  among 
them  Constance  Gardner,  sister  of  Rev.  William  F.  Gardner,  a 
brilliant  and  beautiful  woman,  who  afterwards  married  Henry 
Winter  Davis. 

Mount  Vernon  is  embosomed  in  forest  trees,  some  of  them  five 
feet  in  diameter,  and  General  Washington  in  1785  had  procured 
from  the  West  every  native  tree — among  others  the  coffee  trees  of 
Kentucky — which  are  now  of  immense  size.  Every  morning,  at 
the  first  dawn  of  day,  there  was  a  carol  of  birds  such  as  I  never 
heard  before.  They  were  never  disturbed,  and  there  were  some 
species  which  are  not  generally  found  in  this  region.  It  rivalled 
Milton's  description  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  : 

"  Nature  wantoned,  as  in  her  prime, 
"Which  not  nice  Art 

In  beds  and  curious  knots,  but  nature  boon, 
Pour'd  forth  profuse  on  hill  and  dale  and  plain." 

I  feel  as  if  I  had  come  near  to  Washington,  for  my  father  had 
seen  him  and  my  father-in-law  had  known  him.  General  Wash- 
ington used  to  walk  up  and  down  his  porch  which  was  ninety  feet 
long  and  had  calculated  how  many  times  he  must  walk  to  make 
a  mile,  nearly  fifty-nine  times.  I  tried  this  walk  on  my  visit  to 
Mount  Vernon. 

Tobias  Lear,  who  held  many  important  diplomatic  positions, 
deemed  his  greatest  title  to  fame,  as  his  monument  sets  forth,  that 
he  was  the  private  secretary  and  familiar  friend  of  the  illustrious 
Washington.  He  died  in  1816,  but  his  widow,  being  a  niece  of 
Mrs.  Martha  Washington,  often  visited  Mount  Vernon,  and  was  a 
friend  of  my  wife's  family.  She  sometimes  spent  nearly  a  week 
with  us,  was  a  lady  of  the  old  school  and  a  devout  Christian.  She 
had  lived  at  Mount  Vernon  in  Washington's  lifetime.  She  said 
the  family  and  visitors  stood  in  awe  of  him  and  the  young  people 
stopped  talking  and  laughing  when  he  came  in.  She  gave  my 
wife  a  gold  sequin,  and  had  some  relics  of  Washington,  giving  me 
two  letters  of  Washington,  one  of  which  I  gave  to  the  Maine  His- 
torical Society. 

Colonel  Henry  Lee,  Irving  says,  visited  General  Washington  at 
Mount  Vernon,  and  was  "  not  much  under  the  influence  of  that 
reverential  awe,"  which  Washington  is  said  to  have  inspired. 


General  Washington.  153 

Washington  one  day  at  table  mentioned  his  being  in  want  of 
carriage  horses  and  asked  I^ee  if  he  knew  where  he  could  get  a 
pair. 

"I  have  a  fine  pair,  General,"  rephed  Lee,  "  but  you  cannot 
get  them." 

"Why  not?" 

"Because  you  will  never  pay  more  than  half  price  for  any- 
thing ;  and  I  must  have  full  price  for  my  horses," 

The  bantering  reply  set  Mrs.  Washington  laughing  and  her 
parrot,  perched  behind  her,  joined  in  the  laugh.  The  General 
took  this  assault  upon  his  dignity  in  great  good  part.  "Ah,  Lee, 
you  are  a  funny  fellow  ;  see  that  bird  is  laughing  at  you." 

As  a  boy  I  was  told  by  persons  in  Maine  that  the  day  Wash- 
ington's death  was  announced,  the  children  came  home  from 
school  crying  with  grief.  It  recalls  Lord  Ellenborough's  lines  on 
the  Duke  of  Wellington  : 

"  Pursued  by  murmured  blessings  as  he  passed  upon  his  way, 
The  lovers  broke  their  converse  off,  the  children  left  their  play  ; 
While  child  or  man,  who  crossed  his  path  was  proud  at  eve  to  tell, 
We  met  him  on  his  homeward  ride,  the  Duke  was  looking  well." 

General  Washington  constantly  visited  Alexandria  before  and 
after  his  Presidency,  and  he  owned  a  plain  frame  house  on  Cam- 
eron street,  between  St.  Asaph  and  Pitt,  where  he  would  go  for  rest 
and  quiet  when  fatigued.  It  has  only  been  demolished  since  the 
Civil  War.  Many  memories  of  Washington  and  memorials  of  his 
life  long  remained  in  Alexandria.  My  father-in-law,  General 
Walter  Jones,  told  me  that  on  the  occasion  of  the  President's  last 
visit  there  the  Alexandria  company  of  soldiers  assembled  to  do 
him  honor,  and  he  said  a  few  words  to  them  standing  on  a  very 
large  stone,  which  formed  the  step  of  the  old  City  Hotel. 

Alexandria  was  first  called  Hunting  Creek  Warehouse,  and 
sometimes  Bell  Haven,  from  its  fine  harbor.  The  Legislature  by 
successive  acts  encouraged  its  growth,  and  in  1762  it  was  enlarged 
by  laying  off  lots  on  the  higher  ground  belonging  to  the  Dade, 
West,  and  Alexander  families,  from  whom  it  derived  its  name. 
From  that  time  on  it  improved  rapidly,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
century  had  a  large  commerce  and  ten  thousand  people.  At  the 
close  of  the  Revolution  it  was  so  promising  that  its  claims  to  be 
the  capital  of  the  United  States  were  weighed  with  those  of 
Washington,  and  doubtless  it  would  have  been  chosen  but  for 


154  Al^KXANDRlA. 

Washington's  unwillingness  to  seem  partial  to  Virginia.    Shooter's 
Hill  was  pointed  out  as  an  admirable  site  for  the  public  buildings. 

When  Alexandria  was  founded  it  was  included  in  Truro  parish, 
and  there  appear  to  have  been  four  churches  in  it,  about  ten  miles 
apart,  at  the  corners  of  a  square.  These  were  Payne's  Church, 
near  the  Court-House  ;  Old  Pohick,  near  the  Potomac  ;  Little 
Falls  Church,  and  one  at  Alexandria.  In  1764,  Fairfax  parish 
was  set  off,  with  the  two  last-named  churches,  and  Christ's  Church 
Vestry-book  begins  in  1765.  The  two  old  churches  were  repaired 
at  once  at  a  cost  of  thirty-two  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco.  In 
1766  it  is  determined  to  build  two  new  churches  at  these  points,  at 
a  cost  of  six  hundred  pounds  each,  and  exact  directions  are  given 
and  the  best  materials  are  used.  In  Truro  parish  there  were  two 
churches  also,  which  were  replaced  by  new  churches  about  this 
same  time.  Rev.  Lee  Massey  was  rector  from  1767  to  1785,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  in  18 14.  He  wrote  that  he  "  never 
knew  so  constant  an  attendant  on  church  as  Washington.  No 
company  ever  kept  him  away,  I  have  often  been  at  Mount  Ver- 
nen  on  Sabbath  morning  when  his  breakfast  table  was  filled  with 
guests,  but  instead  of  staying  at  home,  out  of  false  complaisance 
to  them,  he  used  constantlj'^  to  invite  them  to  accompany  him." 
The  "  Father  of  his  Country  "  set  a  good  example  in  this  as  in 
other  matters.  The  Duke  of  Wellington  did  likewise.  On  one 
occasion  a  Roman  Catholic  prince  being  his  guest,  he  inquired,  as 
church  time  drew  near,  ' '  Prince,  where  do  you  worship  ? ' '  Prince 
not  wanting  to  worship,  made  excuse  about  not  knowing  the  way 
to  church  ;  but  the  Duke,  calling  a  servant,  said,  "  Show  his  ex- 
cellency the  way  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Chapel." 

The  Rev.  Mason  L-  Weems,  in  some  of  his  books,  calls  himself 
formerly  rector  of  Mount  Vernon  parish  ;  but  this  is  a  mistake,  as 
there  was  no  parish  of  that  name,  though  he  doubtless  preached 
there  occasionally.  He  was  for  some  years  a  traveling  bookseller 
for  Matthew  Carey,  of  Philadelphia,  visiting  all  the  Southern 
States  in  a  little  wagon  with  his  fiddle  as  his  companion.  He 
would  sell  books  of  all  kinds,  infidel  and  Christian,  and  when 
Rev.  William  Meade  on  a  court-day  at  Fairfax  Court-House  re- 
monstrated with  him  for  selling  Paine's  "  Age  of  Reason,"  he 
immediately  took  out  of  his  case  the  Bishop  of  LlandafPs  answer 
and  said,  "  Behold  the  antidote  !  Tlie  bane  and  the  antidote  are 
both  before  you."  Many  amusing  stories  are  told  of  him  and  by 
him,  and  his  lives  of  Washington  and    Marion   mingle  fact  and 


PoHicK  Church.  155 

fancy  indiscriminately.  His  life  of  Washington  has  been  read 
more  than  all  others.  I  used  to  hear  old  people  speak  of  him. 
At  an  old  tavern  Mr.  Weems  and  some  strolling  players  met  to- 
gether. An  entertainment  had  been  announced,  but  a  fiddle 
was  needed.  Mr.  Weems  consented  to  play  if  a  screen  were  put 
up.  This  was  done,  and  all  went  well  till,  in  the  excitement,  the 
screen  was  overturned  and  Parson  Weems  was  seen  playing  his 
fiddle  for  dear  life.  This  was  told  me  as  a  fact  by  Mr.  Custis  and 
General  Walter  Jones,  who  had  known  him. 

George  Washington  had  much  to  do  with  Pohick  Church,  his 
parish  church.  The  old  frame  church  had  fallen  into  ruins,  and, 
as  a  new  one  was  to  be  built,  Washington  wi.shed  it  moved  about 
two  miles  the  other  side  of  Pohick  Run,  to  a  more  central  place. 
But  Mr.  Mason,  of  Gunston  Hall,  lower  down  on  the  Potomac, 
wished  it  rebuilt  on  the  old  site,  and  there  was  a  friendly  dispute 
about  it,  and  the  vestry  adjourned  without  deciding.  Meanwhile 
Washington  surveyed  the  parish,  made  a  well-drawn  map  of  it, 
marking  the  houses  and  distances,  and  when  tne  day  of  decision 
arrived  he  met  all  arguments  of  his  opponent  by  this  paper  and 
carried  his  point.  Washington  for  some  years  regularly  attended 
this  church,  six  miles  off,  never  allowing  any  company  to  prevent 
his  observance  of  the  lyOrd's-Day.  After  the  war,  he  attended 
Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  and  his  name  stands  on  that  vestry- 
book  in  his  own  writing  as  a  pew-holder  and  subscriber  in  1785. 
In  1765  he  was  chosen  vestryman  in  both  parishes,  a  unique 
honor. 

All  these  churches  were  built  in  the  same  style  and  propor- 
tions, of  brick,  with  white  corner  and  binding  stones,  with  two 
sets  of  windows,  suggesting  the  name  "double-decker,"  and 
suitable  for  galleries  ;  but  Christ  Church  alone  had  a  gallery. 
Three  of  them  are  now  in  excellent  condition  and  full  use,  only 
one,   Payne's  Church,  being  gone. 

When  I  came  to  Alexandria,  Christ  Church  was  in  the  same 
condition  as  when  Washington  was  its  vestryman,  having  a  high 
pulpit,  with  Commandments,  lyord's  Prayer  and  Creeds  on  either 
side  ;  also  galleries,  and  some  square  pews.  It  remained  in  this 
condition  until  1867,  during  the  rectorship  of  Rev.  R.  H.  McKim, 
D.  D.,  who  had  the  old  pulpit  taken  down  and  other  changes  made. 
It  was  restored  as  nearly  as  possible,  but  of  course  of  new  ma- 
terial, by  Rev.  Dr.  Suter,  and  it  is  now  substantially  as  of  old  ;  the 
only  square  pew,  however,  remaining,  is  the  old  Mount  Vernon 


156  Christ  and  St.  Luke's  Churches. 

pew  on  the  north  side,  in  which  tourists  and  strangers  like  to  sit. 
On  the  other  side  was  the  Arlington  pew,  where  the  Custis  family- 
sat.  In  this  pew  were  often  seen  Colonel  R.  E.  Lee  and  his 
family  who  lived  at  Arlington,  and  here  in  old  Christ  Church  I  saw 
in  1853  Robert  E.  Lee  and  his  daughter  Mary  confirmed  by  Bishop 
Johns.  Two  tablets,  on  the  same  side  as  the  respective  pews, 
commemorate  the  names  of  these  two  noble  sons  of  Virginia,  of 
whose  character  and  deeds  she  is  so  justly  proud,  connected  by 
marriage  and  of  the  same  type  of  character. 

St.  Luke's  Church,  Smithfield,  is  the  only  church  having  a 
memorial  window  to  George  Washington,  it  is  said,  though  he 
was  a  good  churchman  and  helped  build  churches.  St.  Luke's  is 
the  oldest  church  in  use  in  the  United  States,  being  built  in  1632  of 
brick,  a  large  and  handsome  building.  Only  its  walls  were  stand- 
ing when  through  the  exertions  of  Rev.  David  Barr  it  was  re- 
stored and  services  are  now  regularly  held  in  it  by  Rev.  R.  S. 
Carter. 

I  count  it  a  great  privilege  that  I  knew  so  well  the  Custis 
family,  of  Arlington.  I  frequently  visited  at  Arlington  and  dined 
there  every  year.  General  R.  E.  Lee  was  first  cousin  (once  re- 
moved) to  my  wife.  This  contributed  to  our  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  them.  Arlington  as  it  is  now  is  very  different  from 
Arlington  as  it  was  then.  It  was  then  in  the  midst  of  a  forest  of 
1,200  acres,  with  magnificent  oaks  and  other  forest  trees,  left  to 
the  wildness  of  Nature,  with  a  farm  road  leading  to  the  mansion. 
When  staying  at  Arlington  I  slept  in  the  bed  in  which  General 
Washington  died.  Arlington  was  left  by  him  to  Mr.  Custis,  and 
it  stretched  almost  to  the  Seminary. 

Mr.  Custis  invited  me  to  dine  there,  and  knowing  that  I  was 
from  the  North  sent  off  and  got  a  codfish. 

Mr.  Custis  had  been  adopted  by  General  Washington  and  was 
fond  of  styling  himself  ' '  the  son  of  Mount  Vernon. ' '  He  was  sent 
to  Princeton  by  General  Washington  and  gave  no  little  trouble  to 
him,  as  he  was  not  inclined  to  study  or  to  any  profession.  Their 
correspondence  has  been  published  in  the  lives  of  Washington. 
He  was  fond  of  the  stage,  and  he  had  some  turn  for  public  speak- 
ing, and  was  in  demand  on  the  Fourth  of  July  and  on  Washing- 
ton's birthday.  He  was  sent  for  to  Washington  and  Alexandria  on 
public  occasions.  He  was  also  an  amateur  painter.  He  painted 
General  Washington  standing  by  a  horse  of  colossal  size,  rather 
the  most  prominent  figure  in  the  painting.     A  friend  of  mine, 


The  CusTis  Famii^y.  157 

visiting  Arlington  and  being  shown  the  painting,  exclaimed, 
"How  striking!"  He  and  Mrs.  Custis  were  most  hospitable. 
He  alwa3'S  said  grace  at  meals.  He  was  social  in  disposition 
and  aflfable  to  all  who  visited  Arlington,  He  was  careless  of 
appearances.  You  might  see  him  on  the  grounds  in  an  old  straw 
hat  and  in  common  dress,  and  you  would  with  difficulty  be  con- 
vinced he  was  the  adopted  grandson  of  Washington.  On  the 
bank  of  the  Potomac,  opposite  Washington,  he  built  a  pavilion 
for  the  entertainment  of  visitors  who  came  over  in  boats,  and  he 
used  to  sit  there  to  receive  them. 

Mrs.  Custis  was  remarkable  for  her  simplicity  and  piety,  in 
which  respects  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Robert  E.  IvCe,  resembled  her. 
She  had  much  literary  taste,  and  I  was  often  indebted  to  her  for 
the  loan  of  new  books  of  interest.  One  felt  perfectly  at  ease  in 
her  company.  There  was  an  entire  absence  of  all  style  about  the 
house  and  a  freedom  from  ostentation.  She  visited  the  Seminary  on 
public  occasions  and  sometimes  dined  with  us.  She  was  a  mem- 
ber of  Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  and  attended  as  often  as  pos- 
sible. She  and  her  husband  are  buried  now  in  the  grounds  at 
Arlington,  surrouned  by  the  graves  of  the  soldiers.  Her  daughter 
ter,  Mary  Custis,  was  like  her  mother.  She  was  married  to  I^ieuten- 
ant  R.  E.  I^ee  in  a  quiet  way  at  Arlington  by  Rev.  Dr.  Keith,  of  the 
Seminary.  Dr.  Keith  was  highly  esteemed  by  Mrs.  Custis.  He 
went  on  horseback  to  perform  the  marriage  ceremony,  and  was 
overtaken  on  the  way  by  a  violent  thunder-shower,  and  arrived  in 
a  woebegone  condition.  Hehad  to  change  his  dress,  and  Mr.  Custis 
supplied  him  with  garments  ill  befitting  so  tall  a  man,  for  Mr. 
Custis  was  short  in  stature  ;  so  that  there  was  something  ludicrous 
in  the  Doctor's  appearance.  My  wife's  family  were  at  the  mar- 
riage, June  30,  1831.  They  were  two  noble  and  congenial  spirits, 
and  their  beautiful  home  was  most  happy  and  bright. 

Lee  never  asked  for  an  easy  place,  as  did  many  of  the  officers, 
and  was  sent,  therefore,  to  the  frontier.  I  heard  him  relate  an 
incident  of  his  military  life.  A  soldier  who  had  been  guilty  of 
some  misdemeanor  was  brought  before  his  colonel  who  said  to  the 
soldier,  "  You  shall  have  justice."  "  That  is  what  I  am  afraid 
of,"  the  soldier  answered. 

He  became  captain  shortly  after  my  marriage,  and  was  from  the 
first  distinguished  for  his  ability  in  every  line  of  work  ;  as  engi- 
neer, scout  and  leader  his  deeds  were  unsurpassed.  When  colonel 
he  lived  for  a  time  in  Baltimore,  on  Madison  Avenue,  near  Biddle 


158  General  Robert  K.  IvEE. 

Street,  aud  had  a  room,  as  he  told  me,  ' '  hardly  big  enough  to 
swing  a  cat  in." 

After  the  capture  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  riding  out  for  his  health.  On  one  occasion  he  saw  a 
Mexican  approaching  him  with  a  lasso  in  his  hand,  which  he  was 
unwinding.  He  took  out  his  pistol  and  held  it  on  his  saddle,  so 
that  it  could  be  seen  by  the  Mexican,  who  gave  up  his  plan  of 
lassoing  him,  and  they  passed  with  a  courteous  greeting. 

Colonel  lyce  was  very  particular  in  visiting  all  his  relatives  in 
our  neighborhood,  when  he  returned  on  leave  from  Mexico  or 
Texas.  Putting  one  or  more  of  his  boys  on  horses,  he  would 
ride  over  with  them  and  call  on  all  of  us.  His  last  visit  was  a 
few  months  before  his  death,  when  he  was  under  the  influence 
of  the  disease  of  which  he  died.  He  spoke  despondently  of  him- 
self, and  was  a  broken-hearted  man.  He  seemed  to  be  paying  a 
farewell  visit  to  his  old  friends  and  his  old  home.  He  had  a 
pleasant  word  for  every  member  of  the  family,  saying  to  my 
youngest  son,  as  he  put  his  hand  on  his  head,  "  Don't  run  after 
other  boys'  sisters,  but  stay  at  home  and  take  care  of  your  mother 
and  sisters. ' '  He  could  well  speak  thus  from  his  devoted  care  of 
his  invalid  mother,  carrying  her  in  his  arms  to  the  carriage,  en- 
tertaining her,  and  taking  even  the  housekeeping  cares  upon 
himself.  When  he  left  her  to  go  to  West  Point  his  mother  said, 
"  How  can  I  live  without  Robert  ?  He  is  both  son  and  daughter 
to  me."  A  lady  once  brought  her  infant  son  and  asked  his 
blessing  for  him.  He  put  his  hand  on  his  head  and  said, 
"  Madam,  teach  him  to  deny  himself." 

Colonel  Charles  Marshall,  his  closest  military  friend  and  officer 
in  the  war  between  the  States,  told  me  that  he  had  heard  General 
Lee  speak  of  me  and  of  my  sympathy.  I  was  deeply  gratified  at 
this  and  at  receiving  on  Easter,  1901,  from  his  daughter,  Mary 
Custis,  this  card,  "  For  dear  Dr.  Packard,  the  kind  friend  of  our 
family  for  three  generations  and  personally  associated  with  my 
earliest  and  happiest  days." 

His  son.  General  William  H.  Fitzhugh  Lee,  lived  at  Ravens- 
worth,  in  Fairfax  county,  about  nine  miles  from  me.  He  served 
one  term  in  Congress.  I  have  never  met  a  more  courtly  gentle- 
man. He  was  gentle  to  all  men,  and  was  highly  esteemed  not 
only  by  his  associates,  but  by  the  poorer  people  of  his  neighbor- 
hood.    The  tributes  to  him  in  Congress  were  remarkable,  espe- 


W.  H.  F.  Lee.     Mason  Family.  159 

dally  from  Northern  and  Western  men.  He  was,  I  have  reason 
to  think,  a  truly  pious  man.  On  the  occasion  of  his  confirmation 
I  wrote  him,  expressing  my  gratification.  In  reply  he  said 
he  had  accepted  our  Saviour's  invitation,  "Come  unto  me, 
all  ye  that  are  weary  and  heavy  laden."  He  died  prematurely 
at  the  age  of  fifty-five.  I  cannot  soon  forget  his  burial  from  his 
residence,  which  was  attended  by  five  hundred  persons,  chiefly 
men.  It  was  one  of  the  loveliest  days  of  October,  and  all  "  the 
air  a  solemn  stillness  held ' '  ;  while  the  fading  tints  and  falling 
leaves  of  autumn  spoke  affectingly  to  the  heart  of  the  passing 
glory  of  the  world,  these  gentle  voices  of  Nature  sweetly  chim- 
ing in  with  the  accents  of  God's  holy  providence,  and  telling  each 
one  ' '  we  all  do  fade  as  a  leaf. ' ' 

I  recall  very  pleasantly  Dr.  Richard  C.  Mason  who  lived  in  a 
brick  house  halfway  between  the  Seminary  and  Mount  Vernon. 
He  was  a  courtly,  fine  looking  and  hospitable  man  and  I  used 
to  visit  him  frequently.  His  oldest  son,  William,  was  my  pupil 
at  Bristol,  and  his  other  sons  are  well  known  in  Virginia,  among 
them  Rev.  I^andon  R.  Mason  in  the  Church  and  Beverly  R.  and 
William  P.  Mason  in  the  educational  world.  The  latter  taught 
at  the  High  School  and  is  now  principal  of  the  Rockville  Acad- 
emy. Dr.  Mason  was  a  grandson  of  George  Mason  of  Gunston  ; 
he  married  a  Miss  Randolph,  and  her  sister,  Miss  Lavinia  Ran- 
dolph, was  a  dear  friend  of  Bishop  Meade.  Miss  Emily  V.  Mason, 
a  brilliant  woman  and  an  old  friend,  lived  before  the  war,  with 
the  Rowlands,  where  Mr.  Charles  R.  Hooff  now  lives. 

Alexandria,  though  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  State,  was  always 
important  eccelesiastically,  as  is  seen  from  the  fact  that  the  Stand- 
ing Committee  is  still  located  here  instead  of  at  Richmond,  where 
the  Bishop  lives.  Several  old  parishes  near  Alexandria  and  its 
prominent  laymen  and  strong  business  interests  gave  it  this  posi- 
tion. 

Among  its  prominent  laymen  living  when  I  came  there  was 
Edmund  I.  Lee,  father  of  Cassius  F.,  Edmund  I.,  Charles,  Richard 
H.,  Hannah,  Sally  and  Harriet  Lee,  and  brother  of  Charles  Lee 
and  of  Light  Horse  Harry,  the  father  of  R.  E.  Lee.  He  usually 
attended  the  Diocesan  and  sometimes  the  General  Convention,  and 
was  a  staunch  and  devoted  Churchman,  a  most  upright  and 
conscientious  man.  Bishop  Meade  says  that  "  he  was  a  man  of 
great  decision  and  perseverance  in  what  he  deemed  right.     He 


i6o  Edmund  I.  Lee. 

was  as  fearless  as  Julius  Caesar,  and,  as  Mayor  of  Alexandria, 
was  a  terror  to  evil-doers. ' '  On  one  occasion  a  man  was  making 
a  disturbance  in  Christ  Church.  The  minister  asked  him  to  stop, 
and  Mr.  L,ee  approached  him  and  told  him  he  must  leave  the 
church.  As  he  came  near  the  man  raised  a  loaded  whip  and 
struck  at  him.  Mr.  I^ee  quietly  took  him  by  the  arm,  led  him 
out  and  put  him  in  the  town  jail.  When  the  surplice  was  first 
introduced  in  Christ  Church — a  startling  innovation — he  went  out. 

The  right  of  the  Episcopal  Church  to  the  glebes,  which  had 
been  determined  against  the  Church  in  the  Virginia  courts,  was 
by  Christ  Church  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  and  the  decision  of  the  lower  court  was  reversed  and  the 
glebe  saved  for  that  parish.  Judge  Story  delivering  the  opinion. 
This  was  the  only  parish  that  saved  its  property.  This  glebe, 
situated  in  Fairfax  county  some  eight  miles  from  Alexandria, 
was  about  1820  exchanged  by  General  Walter  Jones  for  a  town 
house  on  Washington  street,  with  nearly  a  square  of  land,  which 
belonged  to  his  wife,  inherited  from  her  father,  Charles  Eee,  once 
the  Attorney-General,  and  it  has  ever  since  been  the  rectory  of 
Christ  Church.  I  lived  in  this  house  some  months  during  the 
Civil  War  while  officiating  in  Alexandria,  and  here  Robert  E. 
Ivce  had  spent  his  boyhood. 

As  to  the  glebes,  Virginia  from  an  independent  colony  became 
by  the  Revolution  a  sovereign  State  with  an  established  Church 
untouched  by  the  Federal  Constitution.  The  Baptists  and  others 
jealous  of  the  position  of  the  Church  raised  such  an  outcry  that 
politicians  were  affected  against  the  Church.  Thomas  Jefferson, 
whose  social  relations  were  with  the  Church,  yet  acted  against  it 
in  this  matter,  and  the  Virginia  Legislature  ordered  the  sale  of 
the  Church  property  ;  and  in  terms  not  even  the  graveyards,  the 
communion  plate  or  the  church  buildings  were  exempted.  The 
Court  of  Appeals,  however,  revolted  at  that  and  decreed  an 
exemption  which  did  not  exist  in  the  Act  of  the  Legislature. 
Certainly  in  many  cases  the  communion  silver  was  carried  off  and 
the  beautiful  fonts  brought  from  England  were  taken  and  used 
as  watering  troughs  by  neighbors,  who  seemed  to  hate  the  Church. 

The  Church  property  rested  on  the  same  title,  a  grant  from  the 
Crown  of  England,  under  which  every  land  owner  held  his 
property. 


The  Fairfax  Family.  i6i 

After  a  long  struggle  in  the  courts  it  is  said  a  decree  was  pre- 
pared in  favor  of  the  Church,  when  Judge  Pendleton,  Chief  Judge 
suddenly  died.  A  new  Judge  was  appointed  and  a  new  decision 
was  made.  The  Church  people  seemed  to  lose  heart  and  made 
no  more  fight.  If  they  had,  the  decision  might  have  been  as  in 
the  case  of  Fairfax  parish. 

The  loss  of  the  glebes  was  not  an  unmixed  evil,  because  the 
clergy  sometimes  neglected  their  parochial  duties  in  their  atten- 
tion to  their  glebe  farms. 

I  may  here  speak  of  the  Fairfax  family,  so  well  known  in 
Virginia's  history,  some  of  whom  lived  at  Vaucluse.  This  was  a 
beautiful  place,  a  mile  above  the  Seminary,  with  a  rocky  glen 
and  a  spring  issuing  from  the  rocks,  named  from  Petrarch's  cele- 
brated fountain,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  park  of  grand  old  oaks 
which  was  destroyed  during  the  war.  Here  lived  Thomas  Fair- 
fax, the  eldest  son  of  Rev.  Bryan  Fairfax,  who  was  recognized 
in  May,  1800,  as  eighth  lyord  Fairfax.  His  daughters  were 
noted  for  their  charm  and  beauty.  The  place  has  been  lately 
bought  and  a  fine  house  is  being  built  on  the  old  site  by  Professor 
and  Mrs.  Andrews,  artists  of  note.  Mrs.  Andrews  most  kindly 
painted  my  portrait  which  hangs  in  the  Seminary  library. 

Dr.  Orlando  Fairfax,  the  son  of  Thomas,  was  my  family  physi- 
cian, and  lived  in  Alexandria.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  the  old 
school,  extremely  courteous  in  his  manners  and  of  sincere  piety. 

His  son,  Randolph  Fairfax,  was  a  noble  youth  who  was  killed 
during  the  war.  General  Lee,  wrote  a  letter  to  his  father,  which 
would  make  any  father  proud,  and  the  Ediyibiirgh  Review  ^WVidi^A. 
to  him  as  an  illustration  of  hereditary  genius,  showing  the  traits 
of  his  famous  ancestor. 

The  title  descended  to  Dr.  John  Contee  Fairfax,  of  Maryland, 
lately  deceased,  whom  I  knew  as  a  boy,  and  then  to  his  eldest  son 
Albert,  who  has  been  recognized  in  England  as  the  twelfth  Lord 
Fairfax.  Next  to  Vaucluse  was  Muckross,  where  for  many  years 
has  lived  Colonel  Arthur  Herbert,  Treasurer  of  the  Seminary  and 
of  the  Education  Society,  doing  faithful  service,  and  a  devoted 
friend  of  mine  from  his  youth.  His  sister.  Miss  Elizabeth  Her- 
bert, was  a  beautiful  woman,  even  to  the  time  of  her  death  a  year 
ago.  Mr,  and  Mrs.  Upton  Herbert  were  kind  friends  in  the  war 
times  specially.     The  Herberts  belonged  to  an  old  Irish  family 


i62  C.  F.  Lee  and  Dr.  Winston. 

which,  according  to  Stephens'  National  Biography,  dates  back  to 
the  earliest  times  of  historical  record. 

Cassius  F.  Lee,  whom  I  met  very  soon  after  coming,  was  a  life- 
long friend  to  me,  and  to  the  Seminary,  which  was  dear  tu  him  to 
the  very  last,  and  for  which  he  worked  with  all  his  soul.  He  was 
eager  and  willing  to  do  all  that  he  could  for  it.  I  can  never  forget 
our  friendship  of  more  than  fiftj^  years,  and  his  unvarying  kind- 
ness and  consideration  for  me. 

From  an  early  period  he  was  actively  engaged  in  raising  funds 
for  the  Education  Society,  and  for  erecting  the  various  buildings, 
acting  as  receiver  and  disburser  of  the  same,  making  contracts 
and  superintending  the  works.  His  services  as  treasurer  and 
agent  were  long  continued  and  faithful.  Bishop  Meade  said  of 
him:  "  Much  trouble  and  care  have  devolved  upon  him  in  the  per- 
formance of  these  duties,  and  to  no  individual  in  the  diocese  are 
we  indebted  for  so  large  a  share  of  labor  and  anxiety  in  our  behalf 
as  to  himself." 

His  piety  was  deep  and  sincere  and  his  devotion  to  his  Church 
was  great  and  untiring.  His  beautiful  home,  near  the  Seminary, 
Menokin,  is  well  known  to  all  old  students. 

I  should  not  omit  to  mention,  among  the  most  remarkable  men 
I  have  ever  known,  Dr.  Isaac  Winston,  who  was  in  Alexandria 
during  the  war,  and  whom  I  visited  daily  in  his  last  illness.  Dr. 
Winston  was  born  in  1777,  and  graduated  in  the  Philadelphia  Medi. 
cal School  in  1798,  when  Philadeb-hia  had  a  population  of  60,000. 
His  diploma  was  signed  by  Dr.  Rush.  There  was  no  other  med- 
ical school  in  the  United  States  in  1798.  There  were  ninety-six 
students  in  the  school  at  that  time,  and  twelve  graduated  with 
him.  He  was  there  September,  1798,  during  the  yellow  fever, 
when  nearly  four  thousand  died  and  there  were  not  coffins 
enough,  and  he  saw  many  buried  in  a  trench,  where  now  is  a  pub- 
lic square.  When  he  was  a  boy,  staying  with  his  aunt,  Mrs, 
Payne,  in  Philadelphia,  he  saw  Benjamin  Franklin  shnflfling 
along  the  street,  supporting  himself  by  a  long  staff  held  with  both 
hands.  He  began  to  practise  in  his  native  county  of  Hanover  and 
in  Green  Mountains,  Albemarle  county,  afterwards  moved  to 
Culpeper,  and  in  1842  to  Alexandria,  where  he  died  in  1865. 
One  of  his  parents  was  first  cousin  to  Patrick  Henry,  whom  his 
grandfather  educated.  Dr.  Winston  had  spent  much  time  at  Mon- 
ticello,  Jefferson's  residence.  He  was  a  man  of  decided  piety,  and 
I  had  many  conversations  with  hira  in  his  last  illness.     Hesaid 


The  Cazenove  Family.  163 

to  me  once,  "There  were  in  my  early  days  very  few  religious  per- 
sons. My  minister,  Rev.  Mr.  Woodville,  had  very  obscure  views 
of  religion.  His  preaching  was,  'keep  the  Commandments  and 
Christ  will  do  the  rest.'  "  When  eighty-eight  years  old  the  Doc- 
tor told  me  he  didn't  feel  any  more  like  dying  than  when  he  was 
young.  He,  Daniel  Minor,  Mrs.  Wilkinson  and  Miss  Sal  lie  Grif- 
fith were  four  of  my  communicants  in  1864  who  had  seen  General 
Washington. 

Mr.  Antoine  C.  Cazenove,  father  of  William  and  Louis  Caze- 
nove, and  of  Mrs.  William  C.  Gardner,  was  a  gentleman  of  the  old 
school  who  dressed  in  tights,  and  wore  a  queue  ;  he  was  very  po- 
lite and  kind  to  me.  His  family  was  an  old  Huguenot  one  of 
Nismes,  France,  and  at  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  forced  to  take  ref- 
uge at  Geneva.  In  the  French  Revolution  when  Robespierre  seized 
Geneva  and  imprisoned  its  best  citizens,  after  sixteen  had  been 
shot,  forty  were  brought  out  of  prison,  among  them  Paul  Caze- 
nove and  his  two  sons,  John  A.  and  Antoine  Charles.  They 
passed  through  Germany  to  Hamburg  and  England  and  arrived 
in  November,  1794,  at  Philadelphia,  where  Theophilus  de  Caze- 
nove, a  relative,  lived.  He  was  agent  of  the  Holland  Land  Com- 
pany, and  Cazenovia,  New  York,  was  named  in  honor  of  him. 
Paul  and  John  returned  to  France.  I  knew  also  Mr.  Charles 
Taylor,  father  of  Mrs.  Fowle,  and  of  Charles  A.  Taylor,  who 
has  been  active  and  honored  in  State  affairs  and  in  the  Church  at 
Alexandria.  He  was  full  of  energy  and  thought  nothing  of 
walking  to  Washington.  Communication  with  Washington  was 
very  slow  then.  Even  in  1852  there  was  an  omnibus  running 
between  Alexandria  and  Washington,  and  my  nephew  who  was 
staying  with  me  had  his  ear  frozen  going  up  one  winter's  day. 
President  Jackson  wanted  a  bridge  of  iron  and  stone  put  across 
the  Potomac  about  the  time  I  came  to  Virginia. 

In  1844  it  took  exactly  twenty-five  hours  to  travel  from  New 
York  to  Washington  ;  the  ticket  cost  about  $15.  That  very 
winter  in  February  the  ice  was  14  inches  on  the  North  River,  10 
inches  on  the  Delaware,  8  inches  on  the  Susquehanna,  and  6  inches 
on  the  Potomac. 

Alexandria  was  a  place  of  social  and  commercial  importance. 
The  names  of  the  families  living  then  are  in  part  forgotten  by 
long  removal  and  by  death,  but  it  was  the  centre  of  a  cultivated 
and  refined  society.     Turnpike  roads  connected  it  with  the  upper 


1 64  Charles  and  Anne  Lee. 

part  of  Virginia,  and  the  carriages  for  pleasure  and  the  wagons 
for  trade  found  ready  access  at  all  times  along  the  hard  roads. 
We  have  little  idea  now  of  how  slow  was  the  communication  in 
Virginia  a  century  ago.  On  one  occasion  Mr.  Charles  Lee,  my 
wife's  grandfather,  left  Alexandria  on  his  circuit  to  the  neighbor- 
ing county  courts.  After  an  absence  of  nearly  a  month,  as  he 
was  approaching  Alexandria,  on  Shooter's  Hill  he  met  a  burial 
procession  near  the  family  burial-ground  there,  and  someone  see- 
ing him,  came  forward  and  told  him  that  his  wife  had  died  during 
his  absence  and  was  now  being  carried  to  the  grave.  He  had  the 
body  taken  back  to  Alexandria  and  the  burial  later.  This  was  in 
September,  1804.  We  can  imagine  the  shock  and  the  distress. 
Truly  a  journey  then  without  letters  or  telegrams  was  as  bad 
as  a  sea-voyage  is  now.  I  have  seen  the  tombstone  of  this  Anne 
Lee,  my  wife's  grandmother  and  daughter  of  Richard  Henry  Lee  ; 
it  was  destroyed  or  carried  off  during  the  war.  The  epitaph  was 
written  by  her  brother  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee. 

"  This  stone  is  not  erected  in  memory  of  her  piety  and  virtue  for 
they  are  registered  in  heaven  ;  nor  of  the  qualities  by  which  she 
was  adorned,  distinguished  or  endeared,  for  of  these,  they  who 
knew  her  have  a  more  lasting  memorial  in  their  sorrow  for  her 
death.  But  it  is  to  remind  the  reader  that  neither  youth  nor 
beauty  nor  any  excellence  of  heart  or  mind  can  rescue  from  the 
grave,  for  the  entombed  possessed  them  all." 

Before  the  era  of  railroads  Alexandria  was  the  shipping  point 
for  a  large  part  of  Virginia— fifty  miles  to  the  interior.  Heavily 
loaded  wagons  with  six  and  eight  horses,  often  with  bells,  showing 
as  the  boys  thought  that  the  team  had  never  been  "  stalled,"  like 
the  prairie  schooners  of  the  West,  brought  farm  products  down, 
and  carried  back  loads  of  manufactured  goods  and  fish.  There 
were  large  flouring  mills,  and  King-street  flour  was  known  in 
Liverpool,  England.  Foreign  goods  were  imported  direct  ;  Gen- 
eral Washington  getting  his  clothing  from  England. 

The  fishing  industry  of  the  Potomac— shad,  rv  ck,  and  her- 
j-ing — .^^as  very  large  and  valuable  and  centred  at  Alexandria, 
and  a  part  of  the  town  on  the  river,  called  Fishtown,  was  a  busy 
place  for  a  large  part  of  the  year  with  the  cleaning,  salting  and 
packing  of  the  fish.  Thousands  of  barrels  of  fi.sh  were  sold,  and 
shipped  all  over  the  State,  this  being  the  chief  point  of  distribu- 
tion, and  wagons  taking  them  back  as  return  freight.  I  have 
known  20,000  shad  to  be  sent  to  New  York  in  one  day. 


Fishing  Industry.  165 

Fishtowu  is  now  passing  away,  its  area  bare,  its  trade  gone.  It 
was  once  rented  at  $5,000  for  the  three  mouths  of  the  season,  but 
of  late  its  rental  for  the  whole  year  has  not  reached  $500.  It  was 
a  colonial  public  landing  and  came  into  the  hands  of  the  corpo- 
rate authorities  of  Alexandria,  adding  for  many  years  much  to 
the  city  revenue. 

About  the  time  I  came  some  one  has  told  me  that  there  were 
three  hundred  wagons  in  town  one  day,  bringing  produce  and 
taking  away  merchandise.  Business  was  lively  all  along  the 
way,  and  there  were  stopping-places  of  all  sorts,  wagon  stands, 
wagon  factories,  and  repair  shops.  After  a  time,  however,  there 
was  a  strange  falling  off  in  the  catch  of  fish,  which  was  a  blow  to 
their  trade,  and  then,  as  misfortunes  never  come  singly,  Alexan- 
dria, in  a  corner  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  from  no  lack  of 
enterprise  on  its  part,  suffered  a  disastrous  change.  Virginia 
ignored  the  place  and  Congress  regarded  it  not. 

The  Legislature  of  Virginia  allowed  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
railroad  to  enter  the  State,  and  it  tapped  the  resources  of  Alexan- 
dria. If  you  draw  a  line  from  Alexandria  to  Winchester,  and 
then  to  Staunton,  and  another  to  Alexandria,  you  can  see  the  area 
that  was  aflfected  by  the  change  of  market  from  Alexandria  to 
Baltimore.  If  Alexandria  had  been  ceded  back  to  Virginia,  in 
time  to  attract  the  railroads  there  at  first,  we  might  now  see  a  city 
like  Baltimore,  extending  even  out  to  this  Seminary.  The  river 
a  mile  wide,  and  deep  enough  off  the  wharves  for  any  vessels, 
might  have  been  a  large  port.  Two  "  might-have-beens  " — first 
as  capital  of  the  United  States,  and  second  as  a  large  commercial 
city — have  left  Alexandria  an  ancient  city,  with  its  deserted  ware- 
houses, decayed  and  broken  wharves,  and  quiet,  sometimes  grass- 
grown  streets,  on  the  side,  apart  from  business  and  politics,  "  far 
from  the  madding  crowd."  Travellers  pass  through  its  poorest 
streets  and  say  with  compassion,  "  The  town  is  asleep,  finished 
long  years  ago,  and  resting  in  peace."  Some  one  passing  up  the 
Potomac  had  a  strong  whiff  of  the  guano  wafted  out  and  said, 
"  Not  only  dead,  but  unburied."  I  recall  a  newspaper  advertise- 
ment of  that  time  to  the  efifect  that  a  certain  vessel  would  "  sail  all 
next  week"  between  Alexandria  and  Philadelphia. 

A  few  years  before  I  came  to  Virginia  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio 
canal  was  extended  to  Alexandria,  which  it  was  hoped  would 
bring  it  much  business.  At  the  inauguration  of  the  scheme  on  the 
"Common"   near   town  the   mayor   of   Alexandria  with   many 

11 


1 66  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal. 

citizens  were  present,  and  a  pickaxe  with  elaborately  carved  handle 
was  given  him  with  which  to  break  the  ground.  In  the  attempt 
the  handle  broke,  which  an  ancient  augur  would  have  deemed  an 
inauspicious  omen. 

Alexandria  reminds  me  of  Salem,  Mass.,  and  both  were  at  one 
time  scenes  of  great  activity.  One  had  the  West  Indian  trade, 
the  other  the  East  Indian.  Fires  have  done  great  damage,  the 
last  great  fire  in  187 1  destroying  the  market  house  and  the  town 
hall  with  its  precious  relics  of  Washington,  who  was  one  of  the 
first  Master  Masons.  It  is  at  present  growing  in  population,  has 
20,000  inhabitants  and  a  number  of  factories. 

The  monument  to  the  Confederate  soldiers  who  fell  in  battle  is 
simple,  but  excellent,  and  the  inscription  tells  the  story:  "They 
died  in  the  consciousness  of  duty  faithfully  performed." 

The  inscription  is  equally  good  on  the  tablet  at  the  Episcopal 
High  School  to  the  old  pupils  who  died  in  the  service  of  the  Con- 
federate States  :   ' '  Qui  bene  pro  patria  cum  patriaqtie  jacent'^ 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
DOCTORS  SPARROW  AND  MAY. 

"  They  are  all  gone  into  the  world  of  light  ; 
Aud  I  alone  sit  lingering  here  ; 
Their  very  memory  is  fair  and  bright, 
And  my  sad  thoughts  doth  clear." 

THESE  beautiful  lines  of  the  poet  Henry  Vaughan,  who  died 
just  two  centuries  ago,  come  often  into  my  mind  as  I  recall 
the  olden  days  and  my  association  with  the  honored  and  now 
sainted  dead  of  whom  I  have  been  writing  in  these  pages.  They 
specially  remind  me  of  the  two  whose  names  stand  at  the  head 
of  this  article,  Dr.  Sparrow,  my  colleague  for  thirty-three  years, 
and  Dr.  May,  my  intimate  friend  for  nearly  twenty  years. 
Two  other  verses  of  the  same  poem  are  appropriate  : 

"  It  glows  and  glitters  in  my  cloudy  breast, 
Like  stars  upon  some  gloomy  grove. 
Or  those  faint  beams  in  which  this  hill  is  drest, 
After  the  sun's  remove. 

"  I  see  them  walking  in  an  air  of  glory, 
Whose  light  doth  trample  on  my  days  ; 
My  days  which  are  at  best  but  dull  and  hoary, 
Mere  glimmering  and  decays." 

Dr.  William  Sparrow,  the  Seminary's  greatest  professor,  came 
to  us  when  forty  years  old  from  Kenyon  College  with  a  high 
reputation  for  scholarship,  ability  and  administrative  powers.  He 
had  been  for  some  years  connected  with  Kenyon  College,  first 
with  Bishop  Chase,  his  brother-in-law,  and  then  with  Bishop 
Mcllvaine.  There  had  been  some  conflict  and  friction  in  both 
cases,  which  was  afterwards  entirely  settled.  Dr.  Sparrow  was 
a  born  ruler,  was  well  fitted  to  have  authority,  and  exercised  it 
with  discretion.  Bishops  Chase  and  Mcllvaine  were  lordly  men, 
and  in  the  College  their  authority  clashed  with  that  of  Dr.  Sparrow, 
who  was  Vice-President  and  Acting  President.  We  should  never 
have  secured  him  for  this  place  but  for  this  circumstance.  They 
tried  to  get  him  back  afterwards,  but  he  remained  here.  Dr. 
May  wrote,  in  1851,  "We  feared  lest  Dr.  Sparrow  might  be  taken 
from  us.     He  was  importuned  to  return  to  Kenyon.     He  ought 

167 


1 68  Dr.  Wii^IvIAm  Sparrow. 

never  to  think  of  leaving  us."  I  shall  not  attempt  to  give  any 
memoir  of  him,  but  will  give  some  personal  recollections.  His 
life  was  written  shortly  after  his  death  by  Dr.  Walker,  his  pupil 
and  colleague,  and  doubtless  has  been  read  by  his  old  students. 
In  it  are  many  interesting  facts  and  many  of  his  letters.  A  vol- 
ume of  his  sermons  also  was  published,  selected  by  Dr.  Dal- 
rymple.  He  impressed  the  students  powerfully  at  College, 
Edwin  M.  Stanton  was  about  to  be  expelled  from  Kenyon  College 
when  Dr.  Sparrow  defended  him,  and  he  was  kept.  In  his  last 
days  Stanton  sent  for  the  Doctor  to  baptize  him,  and  said,  "  You 
saved  me  from  going  to  the  dogs." 

Dr.  Sparrow  was  nearly  eleven  years  my  senior,  and  I  never 
knew  him  so  intimately  as  I  did  Dr.  May,  who  came  shortly  after 
him.  At  first  Dr.  Sparrow  and  his  family  had  to  live  in  Alexan- 
dria, as  there  was  no  house  for  him  on  The  Hill.  He  himself 
selected  the  site  of  his  house,  St.  John's  in  the  Wilderness,  and  the 
house  was  built  according  to  his  plan,  suggested  by  Dr.  Wing. 
Of  it  he  says  in  a  letter,  "  I  have  but  one  regret — that  I  was  so 
modest  in  my  demands."  A  few  months  after  its  completion  Dr. 
Keith  died,  and,  his  house  being  vacant  ai.d  nearer  the  Seminary, 
Dr.  Sparrow  removed  to  that  and  lived  there  more  than  thirty 
years. 

He  was  elected  in  1840  and  came  on  that  year  to  visit  the  Semi- 
nary. He  was  asked  to  preach  in  Christ  Church,  Alexandria, 
and  his  text  was  "  The  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  Him.  "  I  read 
service  for  him.  Just  as  we  were  leaving  the  vestry-room  he  said 
to  me,  "  I  hope  there  is  nothing  in  the  Psalter  to-day  about  a  spar- 
row." I  said,  "I  think  not."  However,  it  was  the  twentieth 
day,  and  when  we  came  to  it,  there  was  the  verse,  "  I  am  even  as 
it  were  a  sparrow,  that  sitteth  alone  upon  the  housetop."  These 
coincidences  remain  long  in  our  memories  when  more  valuable 
matters  have  vanished.  It  was  noticed  several  times  that  shortly 
before  his  daughters  were  married  the  Psalter  contained  the  verse, 
"  Yea  the  sparrow  hath  found  her  an  house."  With  the  coming 
of  Drs.  Sparrow  and  May  the  Seminary  entered  upon  its  second 
score  of  years  with  renewed  strength. 

Drs.  Sparrow  was  a  teacher  by  nature,  and  education  and 
experience  had  done  much  for  him.  His  teacher's  chair  was  to 
him  a  very  throne  from  which  he  ruled  the  hearts  and  minds  of 
men.  So  absorbed  would  he  become  in  his  subject  that  rarely  the 
bell  that  rang  at  the  close   of  the   hour  was  heard  by  him,  and  I 


Dr.  Sparrow's  Personality.  169 

had  to  go  in  and  tell  him  that  it  had  rung,  in  order  to  get  my  class, 
even  fifteen  minutes  late.  In  appearance  he  was  the  picture  of  a 
teacher  and  scholar.  Tall,  erect  and  spare,  with  a  lofty  brow  and 
piercing  eye,  one  could  see  that  he  was  a  man  of  intellectual  force. 
When  you  met  him,  the  charm  of  his  conversation,  his  ripe  scholar- 
ship, his  wide  and  varied  learning,  rich  with  the  spoils  of  ancient 
and  modern  times,  his  sympathetic  and  loving  heart,  his  counte- 
nance Hghting  up  with  a  beautiful  smile,  all  combined  to  make  a 
deep  impression.  At  the  table  he  was  genial  and  bright  and 
made  the  time  pass  pleasantly. 

The  students  who  sought  his  advice  or  help  in  his  study  found 
him  ready  to  aid  them  in  any  way.  He  exercised  a  strong 
authority  over  them  in  matters  of  discipline,  which  was  felt  and 
acknowledged  as  wise,  and  his  nickname  among  the  students, 
only  discovered  by  him  very  late,  was  "The  Captain."  His  love 
of  the  truth,  "  come  whence  it  may,  lead  where  it  will,  cost  what 
it  may,"  his  sturdy  independence  of  all  authority  save  that  of  the 
Word  of  God,  his  intolerance  of  error,  his  clearness  of  thought 
and  felicity  of  expression,  are  characteristics  well  known  to  all 
his  pupils.  Sometimes  in  the  class-room  he  was  kindled  by  his 
subject,  his  eye  flashed,  his  face  became  radiant,  his  utterance 
strong,  and  there  would  be  a  burst  of  eloquence. 

His  old  students  have  often  spoken  of  the  variety  and  beauty 
of  Dr.  Sparrow's  prayers  in  the  class-room,  of  which,  of  course,  I 
knew  nothing.  But  his  prayers  at  Faculty  meeting  were  very 
impressive  and  uplifting,  and  seemed  to  be  the  very  language  of 
his  heart.  He  seemed  at  once  in  close,  child-like  and  loving 
communion  with  God,  and  lost  to  all  around.  I  remember  that 
he  quoted  two  lines  from  Cowper's  Task  in  a  prayer, 

"  Give  what  Thou  canst,  without  Thee  we  are  poor  ; 
And  with  Thee  rich,  take  what  Thou  wilt  away." 

In  the  Faculty  meetings  he  would  prefer  some  one  else  should 
begin,  and  would  often  ask  me  to  begin,  telling  me  that  it  would 
suggest  thoughts  to  him.  and  then  he  would  speak,  sometimes  for 
nearly  an  hour,  in  the  most  striking  way,  and  these  extempora- 
neous efforts  would  surpass  his  written  sermons.  I  once  said  to 
him  that,  like  Falstaflf,  I  was  a  cause  of  wit  and  wisdom  in  others, 
when  he  told  me  I  was  suggestive. 

His  clear  and  resonant  voice  was  heard  in  the  old  chapel  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  reasoning  upon  the  deep  things  of  God. 


I70  Dr.  Sparrow's  Preaching. 

Not  a  popular  preacher  in  the  usual  sense,  he  was  thought  by  the 
boys  and  some  neighbors  as  too  long  and  too  deep.  One  of  the 
neighbor's  sons  surprised  his  mother  by  saying  he  was  going  to  be 
a  preacher  when  he  grew  up  and  make  Dr.  Sparrow  tired  by 
preaching  long  sermons  to  him.  Miss  Harriet  Allen,  an  uneducated 
woman,  said  that  he  "  put  the  fodder  too  high  in  the  rack"  for 
her. 

He  was  often  invited  off  to  preach,  and  he  could  not  be  heard 
without  admiration  by  any  one  prepared  to  follow  him  in  his  clear 
and  logical  analysis  of  his  theme.  While  he  was  deep  in  thought 
he  was  clear  in  language,  and  he  so  presented  the  truth  that  it 
appeared  to  an  attentive  hearer  as  though  it  needed  no  explana- 
tion. Muddy  waters  may  appear  deep,  because  we  cannot  see  the 
bottom  ;  clear  waters  will  always  seem  less  deep  than  they  are, 
because  we  can  do  so.  He  was  called  to  St.  Paul's,  Richmond, 
Emmanuel,  Baltimore,  to  Boston  and  other  places.  He  never 
wrote  a  book,  but  some  of  his  occasional  discources  were  pub- 
lished, and  are  all  valuable.  His  address  on  "  The  Right  Con- 
duct of  Theological  Seminaries  "  is  most  valuable.  I  think  his 
best  sermon,  which  I  heard  three  different  times,  was  on  the  text, 
"  Ye  are  dead  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  He  was 
remarkably  diffident  and  never  spoke  in  Diocesan  or  General  Con- 
ventions. Writing  to  Dr.  Wing,  he  says  :  "  I  have  always  re- 
gretted that  there  was  not  more  brass  in  my  constitution.  No  bell 
ever  sounded  well,  and  afar  off,  without  it." 

The  Rev.  A.  M.  Wylie  states  that  Daniel  Webster  pronounced 
Dr.  Sparrow  one  of  the  foremost  thinkers  of  the  American  pulpit. 

Mrs.  Sparrow  was  a  woman  of  intellectual  power  and  cultiva- 
tion, and  she  took  all  domestic  cares  from  the  Doctor,  so  that  he 
could  give  himself  entirely  to  his  own  work. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  Dr.  Sparrow  and  myself  went 
South,  and  the  Seminary  was  continued  first  at  Staunton,  then  in 
Halifax  county,  at  Rev.  John  T.  Clark's.  Dr.  Sparrow's  sons 
were  in  the  Confederate  army,  but  his  real  sympathies,  I  think, 
apart  from  them,  were  with  the  Northern  cause,  though  tenderly 
sympathetic  with  Southern  distresses.  In  Staunton  every  week  a 
prayer-meeting  was  held  for  the  success  of  the  Southern  cause.  I 
noticed  that  Dr.  Sparrow  did  not  attend,  and  in  a  letter  he  says 
that  he  never  read  a  secular  paper  during  the  war.  A  friend  of 
mine  was  staying  with  a  friend  who  read  her  a  letter  from  a  de- 
voted admirer  and  old  pupil  of  Dr.  Sparrow,  but  he  wrote  that 


Dr.  Sparrow's  Death.  171 

"with  a  heart  full  of  love  he  would,  if  he  had  the  chance,  shoot 
down  Dr.  Sparrow  for  his  allegiance  to  the  South. ' '  How  he  mis- 
understood him  ! 

Dr.  Sparrow,  though  born  in  Massachusetts,  was  carried  back 
to  Ireland  when  four  years  old  and  educated  there  until  sixteen. 
He  loved  to  speak  of  the  Vale  of  Avoca,  immortalized  by  the  poet 
Moore,  where  he  had  spent  such  happy  years,  and  he  revisited 
Europe  three  times.  He  was  sent  to  General  Convention  from 
1 84 1  till  1 87 1,  when  he  was  absent  in  Europe.  He  was  in  Europe 
when  the  session  of  1871  opened,  and  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Walker  and 
myself,  expres-ing  his  "regret  that  T  could  not  be  with  you  at 
the  beginning  of  the  term,  and  also  my  hope  that  you  will  be 
strict  at  the  examinations.  Few  things,  in  my  humble  judgment, 
tend  more  to  sustain  the  reputation  of  the  Seminary,  and  to  make 
the  students  patient  for  a  long  term  of  study  and  submission  to 
rules  of  all  kinds,  thaa  to  .show  them  their  ignorance  and  make 

them  feel  it." 

His  death  was  a  beautiful  one,  a  translation  sudden  and  peace- 
ful, taking  place  in  Alexandria,  whither  he  had  gone,  January 
17,  1874,  shortly  after  his  return  from  a  trip  North  to  raise  money 
for  the  Seminary.  Being  in  town  that  morning,  I  was  about  the 
first  to  reach  him,  and  I  saw  him  lying  as  if  asleep,  calm  and 
peaceful.  The  feeling  to  his  friends,  as  in  the  case  of  Robert 
Hall,  was  of  a  loss  altogether  irreparable.  An  animating  influence 
that  pervaded  and  enlarged  our  minds  was  extinct.  While  ready 
to  give  due  honor  to  other  able  teachers  and  preachers,  and 
"  knowing  that  the  lights  of  religious  instruction  will  still  shine 
with  useful  lustre,  and  new  ones  continually  rise,"  we  thought- 
fully and  sadly  turned  to  look  at  the  last  fading  colors  in  the  dis- 
tance where  the  greater  luminary  had  set. 

I  shall  close  with  quoting  again  Phillips  Brooks'  letter,  written 
to  me  after  his  death,  at  my  request.  It  is,  I  think,  the  best  esti- 
mate given  of  hitn — the  words  of  a  great  man  about  a  great  man  : 
"  It  is  easy  to  say  of  men  who  have  not  much  accurate  knowledge 
to  impart,  that  they  are  men  of  suggestion  and  inspiration.  But 
with  the  Doctor  clear  thought  and  real  learning  only  made  the  sug- 
gestion and  inspiration  of  his  teaching  more  vivid.  I  have  never 
looked  at  Knapp  since  he  taught  us  out  of  it ;  my  impression  of  it 
is  that  it  is  a  very  dull  and  dreary  book,  but  it  served  as  a  glass 
for  Dr.  Sparrow's  spirit  to  shine  through,  and  perhaps  from  its 
own  insignificance  I  remember  him  in  connection  with  it  more 


172  PHILI.IPS  Brooks'  Estimatk. 

than  in  connection  with  Butler.  His  simplicity  and  ignorance  of 
the  world  seemed  always  to  let  me  get  directly  at  the  clearness  of 
his  abstract  thought,  and  while  I  have  always  felt  that  he  had  not 
comprehended  the  importance  of  the  speculative  questions  which 
were  just  rising  in  those  days,  and  which  have  since  then  occupied 
men's  minds,  he  unconsciously  did  much  to  prepare  his  students' 
minds  to  meet  them.  His  intellectual  and  spiritual  Hfe  seem  to 
me,  as  I  look  back  upon  him,  to  have  been  mingled  in  singular 
harmony  and  to  have  made  but  one  nature  as  they  do  in  few  men. 
The  best  result  of  his  work  in  influence  on  any  student's  life  and 
ministry  must  have  been  to  save  him  from  the  hardness  on  the  one 
hand,  or  the  weakness  on  the  other,  which  purely  intellectual  or 
purely  spiritual  training  would  have  produced.  His  very  presence 
on  The  Hill  was  rich  and  salutary.  He  held  his  opinions  and  was 
not  held  by  them.  His  personality  impressed  young  men  who 
were  just  at  that  point  of  life  when  a  thinker  is  more  to  them  than 
the  results  of  thought,  because  it  is  of  most  importance  that  they 
should  learn  to  think,  and  not  that  they  should  merely  fortify  their 
adherence  to  their  inherited  creed. 

"With  all  his  great  influence  I  fancy  that  he  did  not  make 
young  men  his  imitators.  There  has  been  no  crop  of  little  Dr. 
Sparrows.  That  shows,  I  think,  the  reality  and  healthiness  of 
his  power.  The  Church  since  his  day  has  had  its  host  of  little 
dogmatists,  who  thought  that  God  had  given  His  truth  to  them 
to  keep,  and  of  little  Ritualists,  who  thought  that  God  had  bidden 
them  save  the  world  by  drill.  Certainly  Dr.  Sparrow  is  not  re- 
sponsible for  any  of  them.  He  did  all  he  could  to  enlarge  and 
enlighten  both.  He  loved  ideas  and  he  did  all  he  could  to  make 
his  students  love  them.  As  to  his  preaching,  I  have  not  very 
clear  impressions.  I  remember  that  his  sermons  sometimes 
seemed  to  us  remarkable,  but  I  imagine  that  a  theological  student 
is  one  of  the  poorest  judges  of  sermons,  and  that  the  Doctor  had 
preached  too  much  to  students  to  allow  him  to  be  the  most  suc- 
cessful preacher  to  men.  On  the  whole,  he  is  one  of  the  three  or 
four  men  whom  I  have  known  whom  I  look  upon  with  perpetual 
gratitude  for  the  help  and  direction  which  they  have  given  to  my 
life,  and  whose  power  I  feel  in  forms  of  action  and  kinds  of 
thought  very  different  from  those  in  which  I  had  specifically  to  do 
with  them.  I  am  sure  that  very  many  students  would  say  the 
same  of  Dr.  Sparrow." 


Rev.  Jame^  May.  173 

I  come  now  to  speak  of  Rev.  James  May,  D.  D.,  who  came  to 
the  Seminary  in  1842.  He  was  thirty-seven  years  old  when  he 
came  here  as  professor,  and  from  that  day  till  our  separation,  in 
1861 ,  we  were  as  intimate  as  brothers.  Born  and  educated  in  Penn- 
sylvania, his  first  religious  impressions  were  received  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  at  Jefferson  College,  where  Governor  Henry  A.  Wise 
graduated,  and  a  year  later  Christ  became  to  him  "  the  Rock  of 
Ages,"  "my  all  in  all."  Having  Episcopal  training,  though 
educated  among  Presbyterians,  he  saw  that  his  awakening  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  did  not  bind  him  to  join  that,  so  he 
joined  the  Episcopal  Church,  which  he  loved  devotedly. 

He  studied  law  for  some  months  with  his  uncle,  ex-Governor 
Stevens,  of  Maryland,  in  1823.  His  religious  feelings  deepened, 
and  he  decided  to  become  a  minister,  and  entered  the  middle  class 
of  this  Seminary  in  October,  1825.  While  a  student  here  he 
taught  a  Sunday-school  class  in  Christ  Church,  Alexandria.  He 
returned  to  Philadelphia  and  was  ordained  by  Bishop  White, 
December  24,  1826,  ten  years  before  me.  In  his  journal  he  thus 
speaks  of  it  :  "I  desire  to  make  the  grand  subject  of  my  preaching, 
salvation  by  grace  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus."  Bishop  White 
recommended  him  to  Wilkesbarre,  in  the  lovely  Valley  of 
Wyoming,  commemorated  by  the  poet  Campbell,  his  first  parish, 
and  said  of  May  that  in  the  opinion  of  himself  and  other  examiners 
they  "  had  seldom  found  equal  sufl&ciency  in  the  necessary  studies 
for  the  ministry." 

Only  twenty-one,  with  fresh  complexion  and  dark  glossy  hair, 
says  Dr.  Stone,  he  speedily  won  and  never  lost  the  love  and  con- 
fidence of  his  people.  A  divided  parish  became  united  and  de- 
voted by  his  deep  piety  and  quiet  prudence.  His  work  in  Wilkes- 
barre was  arduous  enough,  with  Sunday  services  and  four  week- 
night  services,  but  he  did  not  confine  himself  to  his  own  parish, 
where  he  was  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season.  He  estabhshed 
churches  at  four  points,  at  each  of  which  he  ofiiciated  twice  a 
fortnight — once  on  Sunday  and  once  in  the  week,  making  four 
services  on  Sunday  and  one  every  week-day.  All  this  was  too 
much  for  his  strength,  and  his  health  was  injured  by  it.  By 
means  of  his  ministry  St.  Stephen's,  Wilkesbarre,  from  one  of 
the  weak  mission  stations,  became  one  of  the  strongest  churches 
in  the  diocese. 

In    October,   1836,  he  was  called  to   St.   Paul's,  Philadelphia, 
Dr.  Tyng's  old  church,  then  vacant  by  the  election  of  Rev.  Samuel 


174  Dr.  May  as  Pastor. 

McCoskry  to  the  Bishopric  of  Michigan.  He  accepted  this 
parish,  but  his  labors  were  too  great  and  his  health  had  been  en- 
feebled at  Wilkesbarre.  A  voyage  to  Europe  was  ordered,  and  in 
1838  Mrs.  May  and  he  set  off  in  a  sailing  vessel  for  France,  as 
steam  vessels  were  then  just  beginning  to  cross.  They  arrived  at 
Havre  after  five  weeks  on  the  ocean,  spent  some  weeks  in 
Paris,  and  the  winter  in  Italy,  returning  to  England  the  next 
summer.  In  England  he  became  acquainted  with  distinguished 
ministers  of  the  Church  of  England.  His  English  physicians 
advised  another  year  in  South  Italy,  where  he  went  again.  In  a 
letter,  January  i,  1840,  he  describes  their  life  in  Rome  :  "  We 
hire  furnished  lodgings,  and  then  we  buy  our  groceries  and  have 
our  bread,  butter  and  milk  sent  in.  Our  dinners  are  sent  ready 
cooked  or  we  go  out  and  get  them,  as  we  please.  We  make  a 
selection  from  a  card  with  names  of  several  hundred  dishes,  and 
the  price,  according  to  our  taste,  &c.  Our  dinners  cost  from 
twenty  to  twenty-five  cents  each.  To-day  being  New  Year's  Day, 
we  ordered  one  of  the  most  extravagant  dinners  we  have  had  in 
Rome — roast  turkey,  lamb  cotelettes,  vegetables,  cauliflower,  cus- 
tard, and  the  bill  was  sixty-five  cents  for  both,  and  we  were  quite 
filled  with  our  feast." 

Mr.  May  studied  while  abroad,  and  became  proficient  in  Italian 
and  French  and  general  historical  study.  He  could  find  at  that 
time  in  all  the  bookstores  of  Rome  but  one  copy  of  the  Bible  for 
sale,  and  that  so  crowded  with  comments  that  the  text  could 
hardly  be  seen.  He  went  to  Athens,  where  he  visited  our  mis- 
sionary. Rev.  Mr.  Hill,  then  to  Alexandria  and  up  the  Nile.  He 
had  intended  going  into  Palestine,  but  the  plague  in  Syria  drove 
them  back  to  Greece.  He  visited  Austria,  Prussia  and  the  Conti- 
nent generally,  and  reached  home  in  November,  1840,  with  his 
mind  stored  with  interesting  memories,  but  with  his  health  only 
partly  restored.  The  scenes  which  had  most  attraction  for  him 
were  not  only  in  Greece,  the  Acropolis,  but  Mr.  Hill's  school ; 
in  Germany  the  Memorials  of  Huss,  Melancthon  and  Luther  ;  in 
Rome  not  the  Palace  of  the  Vatican,  but  the  Mamertine  prison 
and  ihe  Catacombs.  He  showed  me  an  Indulgence  from  the  Pope, 
which  he  procured  in  Rome,  allowing  the  purchaser  to  do  what 
he  wished,  even  to  commit  sins. 

In  July,  1842,  he  accepted  the  chair  of  Church  History  in  this 
Seminary.  It  was  the  very  place  for  him  and  he  was  the  very 
man  for  the  place.     His  sound  scholarship  and  clear  views  of  the 


Dr.  May  as  Professor.  175 

gospel  fitted  him  peculiarly  for  instruction,  and  his  earnest  piety 
for  Christian  influence  on  the  students.  His  good  judgment 
made  him  a  wise  counsellor  in  matters  of  discipline,  and  his  for- 
eign travel  and  study  had  enriched  his  mind  and  fitted  him  for  the 
social  intercourse  of  his  life  and  the  illustration  of  his  subject, 
Church  History. 

In  December,  1842,  Dr.  Sparrow  writes  about  him:  "  Dr.  May 
is  exceedingly  acceptable.  He  is  very  successful  on  Thursday 
nights,  and  is  much  liked  as  a  preacher."  Again,  when  the 
Seminary  was  reorganized,  he  writes,  October  25,  1865:  "As  long 
as  I  am  connected  with  it,  the  Seminary  shall  always  be  what  it 
was  when  dear  Dr.  May  was  of  our  number.  Between  him  and 
me,  and  so  far  as  I  know,  between  him  and  others  who  controlled 
the  Seminary  and  determined  its  character,  there  never  was  the 
slightest  difference  of  opinion." 

Mrs.  May  did  not  come  with  him  until  1843,  so  he  boarded  with 
me  the  first  year,  as  did  also  my  brother.  Dr.  George  Packard, 
who  had  given  up  the  practice  of  medicine  for  the  ministry! 
Those  two  were  most  congenial,  and  I  look  back  on  my  associa- 
tion with  them  as  one  of  the  happiest  years  of  my  life.  In  the 
intimacy  of  daily  hfe  together  I  learned  to  know  Ma'y  so  well,  and 
to  appreciate  the  humility,  beauty  and  symmetry  of  his  character. 
I  remember  his  praying  once  that  the  students  might  not  be 
"dumb  dogs,"  a  striking  allusion  to  Isaiah  Ivi.  10. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  May  added  much  to  the  social  and  spiritual  influ- 
ences of  this  neighborhood,  and  it  reached  to  all  classes  and  to  the 
young  as  well  as  the  old.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  he  would  have 
chestnuts  from  his  tree  to  hand  to  the  children  who  came  by,  and 
a  pleasant  word  with  them. 

As  a  preacher  Dr.  May  was  not  sensational,  but  always  edify- 
ing and  interesting.  He  lacked  animation  of  manner,  but  this 
was  in  part  atoned  for  by  his  sincerity  and  earnestness,  which 
could  be  felt. 

God  gave  him  an  outward  form  and  expression  of  countenance 
which  won  the  favor  and  confidence  of  all  who  knew  him.  His 
voice  was  clear  and  ringing— an  excellent  voice,  as  Dr.  Tyng  said, 
and  he  had  fluency  of  speech .  As  Professor  of  Pastoral  Theology 
he  was  a  model  to  his  class  in  the  subject-matter  of  his  preaching, 
which  was  Christ  and  His  cross.  He  did  not  turn  aside  to  the 
philosophy  of  religion  or  to  any  subjects  merely  speculative  or 
ethical.     There  is  a  tendency  of  late,  I  think,  to  preach  moral 


176  Dr.  May  as  Prkachbr. 

sermons,  as  the  best  way  to  root  out  dishonest,  immoral  living. 
Dr.  May  did  not  think  so.  Doubtless,  he  would  say,  with  the 
poet  Young,  Bishop  Meade's  favorite  quotation  : 

"  Talk  they  of  morals  ?     O  Thou  bleeding  Lamb, 
The  grand  morality  is  love  of  Thee." 

Dr.  Chalmers'  experience  of  twelve  years  in  the  parish  of  Kil- 
many  is  very  striking  and  suggestive,  and  may  be  given  in  sub- 
stance :  "For  the  greater  part  of  the  time,"  he  says,  "  he  ex- 
patiated on  the  meanness  of  dishonesty,  the  villainy  of  falsehoods, 
and  all  the  deformities  of  character.  If  I  could  have  gotten  the 
thief  to  give  up  his  stealing  and  the  liar  his  falsehoods,  I  should 
have  felt  that  I  had  gained  my  ultimate  object.  But  all  this 
might  have  been  done,  and  yet  every  soul  have  remained  in  full 
alienation  from  God  ;  and  even  if,  in  the  bosom  of  him  who  stole 
I  could  have  established  such  an  abhorrence  of  dishonesty  that  he 
would  steal  no  more,  he  might  still  have  a  heart  as  completely 
unturned  to  God  and  as  lacking  in  love  to  Him  as  before.  I 
might  have  made  him  an  upright  and  honorable  man,  but  still  a 
sinner. 

"  But  the  interesting  fact  is  that  the  whole  period  when  I  made 
no  attempt  against  the  natural  enmity  of  the  heart  to  God,  and 
the  way  in  which  this  enmity  is  dissolved,  even  by  the  free  offer 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  believing  acceptance  on  the  other,  of  the 
gospel  salvation  ;  while  Christ  was  not  pressed  on  them  as  their 
only  hope,  I  never  once  heard  of  any  reformations  having  been 
effected  among  them.  It  was  not  till  I  got  impressed  by  the  utter 
alienation  of  the  heart  in  all  its  desires  and  affections  from  God  ; 
it  was  not  till  reconciliation  to  Him  became  the  distinct  and 
prominent  object  of  my  ministry  ;  not  till  the  free  offer  of  forgive- 
ness through  the  blood  of  Christ  and  the  Holy  Spirit  given  through 
Christ's  mediatorship  to  all  who  ask  was  set  before  them  as  the 
unceasing  object  of  their  dependence  and  their  prayers  ;  it  was 
not  till  then  that  I  ever  heard  of  any  of  those  subordinate  reform- 
ations which  I  had  before  made  the  earnest  and  chief  object  of  my 
ministrations. 

"  You  have  taught  vie,'^  he  says  to  his  people,  "  that  to  preach 
Christ  is  the  only  effective  way  of  preaching;  morality  in  all  its 
branches. ' ' 


Dr.  May's  Character.  177 

Dr.  May  was  at  his  best  at  Faculty  meetings.  There  his 
"  tongue  dropped  manna."  He  drew  largely  from  his  own 
experiences  as  a  pastor,  which  were  ver}'^  varied  and  fruitul. 
Many  of  the  old  students  look  back  to  these  meetings  as  one  of 
the  greatest  privileges  of  their  lives,  and  in  the  doctrinal,  experi- 
mental, spiritual  addresses  there  delivered  found  the  most  useful 
preparation  for  their  ministry.  Dr.  Walker  said:  "With  Dr. 
May  it  seemed  to  involve  as  little  of  effort  to  extemporize  as  it  did 
to  converse  ;  and  he  could  upon  very  brief  notice,  and  without 
appearance  of  anxiety,  be  exceedingly  profitable.  It  had  indeed 
been  with  great  effort,  as  his  pupils  atterwards  ascertained  from 
him,  that  he  had  attained  this  freedom." 

As  a  teacher  he  was  very  successful.  He  was  a  careful  and 
faithful  student  and  most  conscientious  in  preparing  himself  for 
his  classes  by  the  study  of  the  best  books.  He  would  have  pre- 
ferred the  chair  of  Systematic  Divinity,  which  was,  however.  Dr. 
Sparrow's.  Dr.  Tyng,  who  knew  of  his  untiring  ministry  in 
Wilkesbarre  and  Philadelphia,  expressed  surprise  at  the  idea  of 
his  being  a  professor  or  a  deep  theologian,  but  the  same  diligence 
that  made  him  the  faithful  pastor  enabled  him  to  be  ready  for  his 
work  of  instruction. 

As  a  Churchman  he  was  decidedly  Protestant  Episcopal  and 
Evangel  cal.  When  he  became  editor,  in  1856,  of  the  "  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Quarterly,"  in  his  introduction  he  says:  "As  to 
Episcopacy  or  the  constitution  of  the  Christian  ministry  in  the 
three  orders  of  Bishops,  Priests  and  Deacons,  as  set  forth  in  our 
standards,  we  are  all  of  one  mind.  The  Ordinal  contains  the  formal 
language  of  the  Church  as  to  this  matter  :  '  From  the  Apostles' 
time  there  have  been  these  orders  in  Christ's  Church — Bishops, 
Priests  and  Deacons.'  " 

His  Christian  character  was  the  most  perfect  one  I  have  ever 
known.  He  was  a  living  example  of  all  that  a  minister  of  Christ 
ought  to  be.  When  we  enter  a  Roman  Catholic  Church  we  see  a 
picture  or  statue  of  some  saint  with  a  halo  around  his  head  ;  when 
a  student  entered  this  Seminary  he  saw  before  him  in  Dr.  May 
not  a  dead  but  a  living  saint  who  needed  no  halo.  He  showed 
how  much  good  can  be  done  by  being  good.  He  was  free  from 
any  of  those  little  follies  which  detract  from  the  usefulness  of  some 
of  those  had  in  reputation  in  the  Church.  Baxter,  in  his  old  age, 
said  that  he  found,  as  the  result  of  his  lifelong  experience,  that 
good  men  were  not  as  good  as  their  admirers  thought  them.    But 


178  Dr.  May's  Character. 

it  was  not  so  with  Dr.  May  ;  his  character  would  bear  the  closest 
examination.  What  Bishop  Burnet  said  of  Archbishop  Leighton 
might  well  be  applied  to  him  :  "  I  never  knew  him  to  say  an  idle 
word  that  had  not  a  direct  tendency  to  edification  ;  and  I  never 
once  saw  him  in  any  other  temper  but  that  I  wish  to  be  in  at  the 
hour  of  death. ' '  I  can  add  for  myself  his  further  remark  :  ' '  That, 
after  long  and  intimate  intercourse  with  him,  I  count  my  know- 
ledge of  him  among  the  greatest  blessings  of  my  life,  and  of  which 
I  must  give  account  to  God."  I  never  saw  him  say  or  do  a  fool- 
ish thing,  nor  ever  ruffled  with  passion.  Dr.  May,  when  weary 
or  troubled  at  any  time,  would  take  up  his  Bible  for  refreshment, 
as  most  men  take  up  the  newspaper  or  novel.  This  showed  his 
character.  He  was  like  Dr.  Keith  in  his  lovely  humility.  He 
was,  as  St.  Peter  says,  "clothed  with  humility."  Like  Arch- 
bishop Leigh  ton,  "he  looked  upon  himself  as  so  ordinary  a 
preacher  and  so  unlikely  to  do  good,  that  he  was  always  for  giv- 
ing up  his  place  to  other  ministers." 

There  was  an  atmosphere  of  holiness  about  him,  so  that  no  one 
could  be  long  in  his  company  without  seeing  his  calm  and 
heavenly  spirit.  Rev.  Dr.  Philip  Slaughter  has  spoken  of  him  in 
his  usual  happy  style,  which  I  quote  : 

"  He  was  an  example  of  the  believer  in  word,  in  conversation, 
in  charity,  in  spirit,  in  faith,  in  purity.  Dr.  May's  intellectual 
and  moral  constitution  was  so  symmetrical  that  there  were 
but  few  salient  points  for  criticism  to  seize  upon  and  emphasize. 
It  was  not  so  much  his  power  in  the  pulpit  and  the  lecture  room 
as  the  constant  shining  of  the  light  and  the  savor  of  the  salt  that 
was  in  him.  His  heart  was  in  sympathy  with  every  form  of 
human  suffering,  his  hand  open,  his  feet  swift  to  their  relief.  He 
was  indeed  a  Barnabas,  a  'son  of  consolation.'  The  brotherly 
kindness  which  beamed  from  his  eye,  flowed  from  his  lips  and 
emanated  from  his  whole  demeanor,  invited  confidence,  attracted 
to  him  all  those  who  were  weary  and  heavy  laden  and  needed 
some  upholding  hand  beneath  their  sinking  hearts  ;  while  his 
even  temper  and  sound  judgment  made  him  the  trusted  counsellor 
of  the  student,  and  indeed  of  all  who  were  racked  with  doubt  or 
troubled  with  care.  The  child-like  simplicity  of  his  correspond- 
ence with  our  foreign  missionaries,  weeping  with  those  who  wept 
and  rejoicing  with  those  who  rejoice,  is  perfectly  beautiful." 

He  had  been  from  his  youth  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted 
with  grief.     In  his  eighth  year  his  father  was  suddenly  killed  by 


Dr.  May's  Sympathy.  179 

an  unbroken  horse.  When  fourteen  his  brother,  Rev.  T.  P. 
May,  the  pillar  on  which  he  leaned,  was  taken  in  the  morn  of  a 
promising  ministry.  The  next  year  his  mother  died,  after  a  pro- 
tracted and  torturing  illness.  All  his  affections  then  centered  on 
a  beloved  sister  who  died  in  his  seventeenth  year.  His  own 
health  began  early  to  fail,  and  then  his  lovely  wife  began  to  fade 
before  his  eyes,  and  she  died  in  1861.  "Oh,  what  a  storm  of 
suffering  passed  over  me  in  her  last  days  !  I  was  carried  away  in 
a  sort  of  delirium,"  he  says.  In  a  letter  to  me  he  says  :  "  I  am 
lonely  and  have  many  tears.  Is  there  not  a  happy  land,  far,  far 
away  ?  " 

His  letters  of  sympathy  to  me  were  very  touching.  He  wrote, 
November  14,  1863,  after  the  death  of  ray  son  William  :  "  I  do 
remember  him  as  he  was,  when,  with  his  smiling  face  he  passed 
me  on  his  way  to  or  from  school  at  Howard,  or  when  he  came  to 
my  door  on  an  errand.  I  do  tenderly  eel  for  you  and  his  mother. 
I  read  your  letter  with  tears.  *  *  *  i  have  shed  more  tears 
within  the  last  three  years  than  ever  before.  Now  they  seem  to 
be  natural  and  flow  unbidden.  *  *  *  But  there  is  power  in 
faith.  There  are  in  Christ  exceeding  riches  of  grace.  ***  Your 
son  seems  to  have  found  a  present  help  in  his  need.  This  should 
be  a  balm  to  your  wounded  heart.  You  may  say,  it  is  well  with 
the  child." 

It  was  a  terrible  trial  to  him  in  May,  1861,  to  leave  the  Semi- 
nary, in  the  midst  of  war's  alarms.  He  writes:  "Shall  we  ever 
reassemble?  You  can  imagine  nothing  so  sweet  and  lovely  as 
everything  looks.  The  new  buildings  are  all  just  completed,  the 
yard  all  beautifully  green,  trees  in  young  leaf,  with  numberless 
flowers  and  blossoms.  The  woods  have  been  raked  over  and 
trimmed  ;  the  birds  seem  wild  with  delight  and  fill  the  air  with 
song.  Who  knows  how  soon  everything  may  be  destroyed  ?  If 
the  tears  shed  on  this  hill  this  week  were  gathered,  what  an 
amount  would  appear  !  And  yet  is  not  this  but  the  beginning  of 
sorrows?"  He  bore  a  heavy  heart  away  with  him,  leaving  a 
home  beautiful  without  and  within,  and  hallowed  by  many  sacred 
memories,  of  students,  missionaries  and  friends. 

Thus  he  labored  on,  working  and  praying  until  he  was  taken 
sick  in  December,  1863,  and  after  seven  days'  illness  God  took 
him.  He  was  hardly  conscious  during  his  severe  illness ;  frag- 
ments of  prayers,  portions  of  Scripture,  directions  as  to  duty, 
formed  the  staple  of  his  broken  thoughts.     His  sick-bed   gave 


i8o  Dr.  May's  Death. 

forth  no  sign,  either  of  loving  farewell,  as  he  took  his  last  look  of 
earth,  or  of  joyful  assurance  as  he  gazed  up  into  heaven. 

John  Newton  used  to  say,  "  Tell  me  not  how  one  died,  but  how 
he  lived."  Dr.  May  had  set  his  mind  on  the  things  that  are 
above,  he  had  died  to  the  world  and  his  life  was  hid  with  Christ 
in  God,  and  his  friends  well  knew  that  he  was  "forever  with  the 
Lord." 

Dr.  Sparrow  wrote  me  on  hearing  of  Dr.  May's  death  :  "  Few 
such  Christians  have  gone  to  heaven  of  late  years.  "  Keith, 
Sparrow,  May  ;  I  knew  and  loved  them  all.  There  are  three 
stars  in  the  belt  of  Orion  which  shine  side  by  side  with  equal 
lustre  ;  so  these  three  men,  that  have  gone  into  that  world  of 
light,  shine  down  upon  us  in  their  bright  example  and  sweet 
influences  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament  and  as  the  stars,  for 
ever  and  ever.  Much  of  the  tender  love  which  the  older  Alumni 
cherish  for  this  Seminary,  as  for  a  place  in  which  they  spent  the 
happiest  and  most  profitable  hours  of  life,  is  owing  to  these  men. 

It  has  been  my  sad  privilege  last  of  all,  though  here  six  years 
before  Drs.  Sparrow  and  May,  to  recall  their  blessed  memories  and 
holy  examples.  It  is  a  blessing  thus  to  associate  with  thtm  again, 
and  it  is  thus,  as  Robert  Hall  says,  that  the  friendship  of  high  and 
sanctified  spirits  loses  nothing  by  death  but  its  alloy  ;  failings 
disappear  and  the  virtues  of  those  whose  "  faces  we  shall  behold 
no  more"  appear  greater  and  more  sacred  when  beheld  through 
the  shades  of  the  sepulchre.  Their  spirits  are  now  united  before 
the  throne,  and  if  any  event  in  this  sublunary  sphere  may  be  sup- 
posed to  engage  their  attention  in  their  present  mysterious  eleva- 
tion, it  is  doubtless  the  desire  that  this  Seminary,  the  child  of  their 
prayers  and  the  object  of  their  love,  may  go  on  in  greater  useful- 
ness and  in  closer  communion  with  Christ  than  when  they  were 
its  Professors,  and  that  it  may  be  tie  honored  instrument  of  ever 
sending  forth  ministers  of  the  New  Testament,  spiritually  minded, 
Christ-like  men,  to  turn  sinners  to  righteousness  and  to  conduct 
sons  to  glory  until  Christ  come. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

EPISCOPAL   HIGH  SCHOOL  AND  ALUMNI. 

THE  Episcopal  High  School  was  started  long  after  the  Semi- 
nary, and  though  so  nearly  connected,  it  has  always  been 
separate  from  our  institution.  Still,  as  it  began  three  years  after 
my  coming  here,  and  has  had  so  many  of  our  Alumni  as  its 
teachers  and  scholars,  I  will  tell  what  I  know  of  its  origin  and 
course. 

I  cannot  say  exactly  when  Howard  was  built,  nor  by  whom, 
but  about  1800,  I  think.  It  was  surrounded  by  trees,  and  a  Mr. 
William  Robertson  lived  there  many  years.  He  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  David  Stuart,  father  of  C.  Calvert  Stuart,  who  married 
Miss  Cornelia  Turberville.  After  he  left,  Mrs.  Wilmer,  the  third 
wife  of  Rev.  Dr.  William  H.  Wilmer,  so  prominent  in  founding  our 
Seminary,  and  step-mother  of  Bishop  Richard  H.  Wilmer  and  Rev. 
Dr.  George  T.  Wilmer,  came  to  live  there  and  opened  the  How- 
ard School  in  1831,  on  the  site  of  the  present  Episcopal  High 
School.  The  teachers  were  Rev.  Jonathan  I^oring  Woart  (pro- 
nounced Wirt)  and  the  Rev.  John  Woart,  once  chaplain  in  U.  S. 
Army,  lately  deceased,  both  Alumni  of  our  Seminary  in  the 
classes  of  183 1  and  1834. 

While  Rev.  J.  L,.  Woart  was  at  Howard,  Miss  Elizabeth  West, 
daughter  of  Richard  West,  of  the  "  Woody ard,"  Prince  George's 
county,  Maryland,  a  famous  and  beautiful  residence,  visited  Mrs. 
Wilmer  (?iee  Ann  Brice  Fitzhugh,  of  the  Marmion  Fitzhughs  of 
Virginia),  her  intimate  friend.  Thus  becoming  acquainted,  Mr. 
Woart  and  she  were  married  at  the  "  Woody  ard  "  a  year  or  two 
before  the  school  closed.  In  1834  Mr.  Woart  had  charge  of  a 
parish  at  Tallahassee,  Florida,  where  he  served  with  great  accept- 
ance, and  the  people  became  warmly  attached  to  him  and  his 
wife.  She  was  an  elegant  specimen  of  that  refined  class  to  which 
her  relatives  of  the  Key,  Taney,  West  and  Uoyd  families 
belonged. 

In  the  summer  of  1838,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Woart  went  northward 
from  Savannah  to  New  York,  on  the  Steamer  Pulaski.  The 
vessel  foundered  ofiFthe  coast  of  North  Carolina  ;  they  with  *]ie 

181 
13 


1 82  Wreck  of  the  Pulaski. 

other  passengers  were  put  on  a  raft,  but  were  all  drowned.     Mrs. 
Rebecca  J.  Mclyeod  and  her  brother  Mr.   Gazaway  B.  Lamar,  of 
Georgia,  were  on  board  and  when  the  ship  went  to  pieces  he  swam 
to  her  to  a  piece  of  wreck  on  which  she  also  floated,   and  later 
on  they  took  a  small  boat  which  came  within   their  reach  and 
landed  near  Wilmington,  North  Carolina.     She  and  her  nephew, 
Charles  Lamar,  who  was  the  only  child  saved  from  that  wreck  and 
who  showed  great  nobility,  fortitude  and  unselfishness,  were  picked 
up  by  a  sailing  vessel.     Mr.  Woart  showed  great  consideration 
and  courage,   and  his  piety  and  prayers  cheered  his  lovely  wife 
and  others  in  their  sufferings  and  death  on  the  raft.     When  she 
died  he  sunk  down  in  grief  and  weakness  and  their  bodies  were 
swept  off  together  by  a  heavy  sea.     Mr.    Lamar  afterwards  mar- 
ried Miss  Harriet  Cazenove,    of  Alexandria.     He   gave   Doctor 
Sparrow  a  trip  to  Europe  on  his  sailing-vessel,  and  the  Doctor 
went  to  Savannah  to  take  the  vessel. 

The  school  continued  three  years.     It  was  limited  in  number 
to  eighteen  pupils,  and  the  prices  were  such  as  to  insure  the  most 
valuable  patronage.  The  boys  were  devoted  to  Mr.  Woart,  a  suc- 
cessful teacher.    It  may  be  of  interest  to  record  the  names  of  some 
who  were  members  of  Howard  School.     Richard  H.  Wilmer  was 
there  for  one  year,  going  in  1832  to  Yale  College,  where  he  gradu- 
ated in  1836.  Charles  Lee  Jones,  my  brother-in-law,  son  of  General 
Walter  Jones  ;  John,  Littleton  and  Williams  Carter  Wickham,  of 
Hanover  county,  were  here  at  that  time  ;  the  last  named  was  a  gen- 
eral in  the  Confederate  army,  and  Vice-President  of  the  C.  &  O. 
R,  R.     Other  boys  were  Mansfield  (afterwards  General  C  S.  A.) 
and  his  brother  Joseph  Lovell,  sons  of  Surgeon-General  Lovell, 
U.  S.  A.;  William  Jones,  son  of  Adjutant-General  Roger  Jones, 
who  was  with  me  at  Bristol  College,  but  was  killed  near  Fort  Mc- 
Henry,  shortly  after  graduating  at  West  Point,  by  a  fall  from  his 
horse  caused  by  jumping  him  over  a  cow  that  was  lying  down. 
Charles  and  Turberville  Stuart,  brothers  of  Mrs.  Harriet  E.  Caze- 
nove ;  S.  Wilmer  Cannell,  Philip  Barton  Key,  son  of  Francis  S. 
Key;  J.   Augustine  Washington,   and   Henry  Winter  Davis  of 
national  reputation,  and  others  attended  one  or  more  sessions. 
Henry  Davis  Dr.  Wilmer  remembers  well  during  his  school-days, 
before  I  knew  him.     His  aunt,  Miss  Winter,  lived  in  Alexandria 
and  was   pinching  herself  to  educate  him.     He  walked  out  to 
school,  and  some  can  now  remember  him,  with  elastic  step  striding 
along,  a  tin  bucket  on  his  arm,  wearing  a  green  baize  jacket,  his 


Henry  Winter  Davis.  183 

clear-cut  features,  his  auburn  hair  and  bright  expression  making 
a  favorable  impression  on  all.  He  went  to  Kenyon  College  and 
there  led  a  self-denying,  humble  life,  refraining  from  all  but  the 
most  necessary  expenses.  None  knew  of  his  aunt's  self-sacrifice 
in  sending  him,  and  there  was  no  explanation  to  any  one,  and 
Davis  left  all  to  draw  their  own  conclusions  as  to  why  an  elegant 
looking  young  man  would  neither  give  nor  receive  any  social 
favor.  He  got  into  politics,  and  I  saw  him  later  at  the  marriage 
of  C.  L.  C.  Minor,  M.  A.,  in  Alexandria.  His  father  was  Rev. 
Henry  L,.  Davis,  rector  of  St.  Anne's,  Annapolis. 

At  this  time  there  used  to  be  some  friction  between  the  boys  of 
Howard  School  and  the  Seminary  students,  and  the  boys  used  to 
invent  ways  of  teasing  them.  They  would  put  ropes  on  the  stile 
to  trip  them  up  on  their  way  to  seethe  Misses  Fairfax,  and  played 
many  other  tricks. 

After  the  Howard  School  closed.  Dr.  William  Alexander  owned 
what  is  now  the  Episcopal  High  School  tract. 

When  Bishop  Meade  wished  to  establish  a  Church  school  the 
Howard  tract  was  bought  in  183S,  and  five  thousand  dollars  was 
paid  for  the  sixty  acres  and  the  buildings.  I  walked  over  with 
Bishop  Meade  to  look  at  the  place  and  to  choose  a  site  for  the  school. 
I  remember  we  stopped  at  a  tree  with  four  trunks  issuing  from  a 
single  root.  The  idea  in  establishing  the  school  was  to  give  a 
more  religious  training  than  was  possible  in  an  ordinary  college. 
Bishop  Meade's  own  experience  at  Princeton,  where  there  was 
disorder  among  the  students,  influenced  him.  He  thought,  too, 
that  it  would  be  a  feeder  to  the  Seminary,  and  that  the  religious 
training  of  a  Church  school  would  be  beneficial.  The  teaching 
was  advanced  enough  to  fit  immediately  for  professional  study, 
with  very  close  discipline.  The  prejudice  against  colleges  and 
the  University  specially  was  increased  by  the  killing,  in  some 
disturbance  of  the  students,  in  1840,  of  Prof.  J.  A.  G.  Davis,  father 
of  one  of  our  Alumni.  The  student  was  bailed,  but  forfeited  it 
and  escaped.  The  first  thought  of  this  High  School  was  embodied 
in  the  resolution  proposed  at  the  Virginia  Convention  of  1837,  by 
Rev.  J.  P.  B.  Wilmer,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Louisiana,  the  father 
of  Skipwith  Wilmer  and  Joseph  Wilmer.  His  father.  Rev.  Simon 
Wilmer,  I  saw  at  our  commencements,  and  I  thought  him  a  very 
earnest,  brave  man,  and  his  ministry  was  a  long  and  useful  one. 
He  found  once  that  the  men  did  not  come  in  until  after  the  ser- 
vice, in  time  for  the  sermon,  so  he  changed  his  order  and  had  the 


1 84       Founding  of  the  High  School. 

sermon  first,  and  when  they  came  he  told  them  he  had  kept  the 
best  for  the  last,  and  thus  he  broke  up  the  custom.  Bishop  Joseph 
was  a  man  of  strong  and  noble  character,  and  one  of  the  kindest, 
truest-hearted  gentlemen  I  have  ever  known,  and  his  wife  was 
one  of  the  loveliest  of  women,  a  most  devoted  Christian,  whose 
memory  is  precious.  She  was  a  Miss  Helen  Skipwith,  daughter 
of  Humberstone  Skipwith,  of  Mecklenburg  county. 

The  trustees  in  1839  appointed  a  committee,  consisting  of  Bishop 
Meade,  Revs.  E.  C.  McGuire,  George  Adie  and  C.  B.  Dana,  with 
Cassius  F.  lyce,  Esq.  They  secured  the  services  as  rector  of  Rev. 
Wm.  N.  Pendleton,  my  colleague  at  Bristol  College,  then  a  pro- 
fessor in  Newark  College,  Delaware. 

On  Tuesdav,  October  15,  1839,  the  Episcopal  High  School  opened, 
with  four  teachers  and  thirty-five  boys  in  attendance  during  the 
session.  The  charge  was  $200  for  ten  months'  session,  bedding 
and  towels  extra,  and  sons  of  clergymen  were  received  at  half 
price.  Bishop  Meade  in  August,  1839,  speaks  with  satisfaction 
of  having  engaged  as  an  assistant  for  the  rector,  ' '  Mr.  Milo  Mahan, 
from  near  Suffolk,  Virginia,"  for  three  years  a  pupil,  and  later 
three  years  a  teacher,  under  Dr.  Muhlenberg.  He  was  afterwards 
well  known  to  the  Church  as  preacher,  professor  and  author, 
and  was  at  one  time  rector  of  St.  Paul's,  Baltimore.  He  was 
considered  a  very  High-Churchman  in  those  days,  lent  the 
students  John  Henry  Newman's  books,  and  when  a  revival  began 
at  the  school  discouraged  it.  They  tried  him  in  a  quiet  way  for 
Puseyism.  He  was  one  of  the  cleverest  men  I  have  known,  a 
devoted  Greek  scholar  and  a  successful  teacher. 

Twenty  out  of  thirty-five  boys  were  confirmed  the  first  session, 
showing  the  strong  religious  influence.  The  number  was  limited 
to  thirty-five  only  for  lack  of  room,  which  was  remedied  the  sec- 
ond session,  when  the  present  main  building  was  completed  and 
the  number  rose  to  loi  pupils,  and  the  next  year  to  no.  Francis 
M.  Whittle  was  at  the  school  its  first  session.  Dr.  Pendleton, 
who  had  been  my  friend  at  Bristol,  and  was,  I  believe,  instru- 
mental in  getting  me  called  to  the  Seminary,  wished  me  to  teach 
at  the  school,  but  my  duties  were  too  engrossing  at  the  Seminary. 
D  .  Sparrow,  and  later  Dr.  May,  taught  Mental  and  Moral  Phi- 
losophy. The  teachers  at  this  time  were  my  old  friend  of  Bristol 
days,  John  Page,  of  Hanover  county,  and  Robert  Nelson,  after- 
wards missionary  to  China.  Rev.  Dr.  C  Walker  was  at  the 
school  in  1840,  and  has  known   it  from  its  beginning.     Other 


Early  Teachers  of  the  High  School.  185 

teachers  who  were  alumni  of  our  Seminary  were  Revs.  Charles 
Gillette,  D.  D.,  Henry  B.  Bartow  and  William  Passmore,  and 
Myron  Galusha. 

Major  Page  recalled  a  boyish  altercation  between  Frank  Whittle 
and  Bob  Burwell  Nelson,  afterwards  a  distinguished  physician 
in  Charlottesville.  Nelson  seeing  Whittle  standing  on  the  steps  of 
the  playhouse  called  out,  "there  stands  Frank  Whittle  as  firm  as 
a  mule,"  and  Page  said  (in  his  address  at  the  E.  H.  S.  some  years 
ago)  '  he  has  stood  so  ever  since  when  protecting  the  Church  from 
false  doctrine  and  heresy  and  long  may  he  continue  to  stand  as 
one  of  the  main  bulwarks  of  Episcopacy  in  the  United  States." 

In  the  fourth  session  the  school  declined  in  numbers,  only  sixty 
being  recorded.  Mr.  E.  T.  Perkins,  late  rector  emeritus  of  St. 
Paul's,  lyouisville,  Ky.,  was  a  teacher,  and  nine  students,  pre- 
paring for  the  Seminary,  were  there,  sleeping  in  the  dormitory, 
but  having  separate  rooms  for  study.  There  is  in  the  report  of 
this  year  a  long  defence  of  the  dormitory  system,  now  happily  re- 
placed by  separate  rooms  for  each  boy.  In  1844  the  numbers  fell 
to  47,  and  in  July  the  school  was  suspended,  owing  to  a  deficit  of 
about  $7,000  Dr.  Pendleton  was  most  beloved  by  his  pupils, 
and  was  one  of  the  noblest  men  I  have  ever  known,  and  the 
financial  failure  of  the  school  was  due  to  his  generosity  in  re- 
ceiving too  many  pupils  at  reduced  rates,  and  often  for  nothing 
at  all. 

I  must  take  this  opportunity  to  speak  further  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Pendleton,  my  earliest  southern  friend,  for  whom  I  have  always 
felt  the  sincerest  affection  and  esteem.  He  was  exactly  three 
years  older  than  I,  and  entered  West  Point  in  June,  1826,  a  year 
before  I  entered  Bowdoin  College.  He  graduated  fifth  in  his  class 
in  1830,  and  was  ordered  South.  Though  Charles  P.  Mcllvaine 
was  chaplain  at  West  Point  while  he  was  there,  and  there  was  a 
great  religious  awakening  at  the  time,  young  Pendleton  was  rather 
an  unbeliever.  In  1831  Mr.  Pendleton  was  made  an  Assistant 
Professor  of  Mathematics  at  West  Point,  and  his  mind  turned 
strongly  to  religion,  and,  as  if  to  prepare  for  a  minister's  life,  he 
began  the  study  of  Hebrew  and  kept  up  his  I^atin  and  Greek. 
Confirmed  by  Bishop  Meade  in  1832,  he  gave  up  the  army  in  1833, 
and  became  professor  at  Bristol  College,  near  Philadelphia,  where 
he  stayed  till  its  close  in  1836,  being  ordained  in  1837  by  Bishop 
Meade.  He  at  once  became  professor  in  Newark  College, 
Delaware,  until  1839,  when  he  took  charge  of  the  High  School. 


1 86  Rev.  W.  N.  Pendleton. 

He  was  naturally  gifted  as  a  teacher,  was  a  very  fine  engineer, 
and  could  have  made  a  fortune  in  that  work,  and  it  was  a  real 
consecration  of  himself  entirely  to  God  that  led  him  into  the 
ministry.  He  was  a  very  fine-looking  man,  of  athletic  build  and 
military  bearing,  and  firmness  and  decision  of  character  were 
apparent  in  his  countenance.  I  remember  that  a  bully  in  our 
neighborhood,  who  disliked  the  Seminarians,  as  he  called  us,  came 
one  day  to  the  school  with  some  trifling  grievance,  and  thought 
that  he  would  find  a  pale,  timid  parson,  whom  he  could  easily 
crush.  When  Mr.  Pendleton  came  in,  looking  every  inch  a  soldier, 
and  such  as  I  have  described  him,  the  bully  became  very  meek 
and  was  glad  to  get  away  as  soon  as  possible. 

Dr.  Pendleton  always  showed  great  ability  in  debate,  combined 
with  a  candor  and  openness  to  conviction  that  was  unusual.  He 
was  truly  "  an  Israelite  in  whom  was  no  guile  ;  "  a  man  of  the 
greatest  generosity,  one  of  the  most  noble-hearted  men  I  have 
ever  known  ;  a  man  who  shone  in  social  intercourse,  a  strong, 
manly  Christian  character,  and  gentle  and  courteous  to  all.  His 
influence  over  boys  was  very  great  and  most  salutary.  He  was 
a  pure,  good  and  great  man  in  every  respect.  His  life  has  been 
well  written  by  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Susan  P.  Lee,  and  should  be 
read  by  our  young  men  as  a  good  example  of  a  Christian  minister. 
He  served,  like  Bishop  Polk,  in  the  army  during  the  civil  war. 
being  Brigadier-General,  C.  S.  A.,  and  Chief  cf  Artillery,  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia.  For  thirty  years  he  was  rector  of  Grace 
church,  Lexington,  where  he  fell  asleep  suddenly  January  15, 
1883.  The  beautiful  church  built  by  his  untiring  efi"orts  is  a  noble 
monument  to  his  life.  He  was  one  of  the  few  ministers  who  was 
not  secularized  by  the  worldly  business  in  which  at  times  he 
engaged. 

The  Episcopal  High  School  reopened  October,  1845,  with  Rev. 
Edwin  A.  Dalrymple,  of  the  class  of  1843,  as  rector.  He  had  two 
assistants,  both  candidates  for  orders,  and  he  himself  taught  seven 
hours  a  day.  These  were  Henry  C.  Lay  (1846)  and  Francis  M. 
Whittle  (1847),  both  afterwards  eminent  bishops  in  the  Church. 
Bishop  Lay  was  a  man  of  great  charm  of  manner  and  address, 
most  earnest  and  acceptable  as  a  preacher  and  writer,  and  one 
whose  works  do  follow  him.  I  enjoyed  greatly  knowing  him.  He 
wrote  me  that  Dr.  Dalrymple  had  the  Latin  classes,  Mr.  Whittle 
the  Mathematical  and  he  the  Greek  classes,  and  he  doubted 
' '  whether  any  of  the  three  has  ever  done  better  work  than  the 


Rev.  E.  a.  Dalrympi^e.  187 

school  work  of  that  year."  A  personal  word  was  grateful.  "  I 
beg  leave  to  assure  Dr.  Packard  that  I  have  ever  held  him  in 
kindest  regard  for  his  patient  teaching,  his  personal  kindness  and 
his  devout  example  in  the  Seminary  days."  He  was  born  in 
Richmond,  December  6,  1823,  and  consecrated  Bishop  in  Rich- 
mond October  23,  1859,  when  not  thirty-six  years  old.  His  son, 
George,  is  a  master  in  St.  Paul's  School,  Concord. 

Dr.  D  ilrymple  was  a  very  exact  scholar  and  a  most  thorough 
and  successful  teacher,  and  under  his  control  the  school  reached 
the  number  of  eighty-five  pupils,  many  being  refused  for  want  of 
room.  His  health  broke  down  under  his  untiring  work,  and  after 
seven  years'  rectorship  he  resigned  in  July,  1852.  His  discipline 
was  very  severe,  and  was  modeled  after  the  precepts  of  Solomon, 
but  that  was  in  a  day  when  correction  with  the  rod  was  the  correct 
thing,  and  was  generally  followed.  He  certainly  made  boys  study, 
and  many  have  doubtless  thanked  him  for  his  traming.  It  may 
have  been  unduly  severe,  as  viewed  in  our  modern  light,  but  he 
was  generous  and  kind,  returning  from  town  with  oranges  and 
apples  that  were  freely  distributed  among  the  boys.  Some  of  his  old 
scholars  can  remember  the  slow,  unwilling  footsteps  of  those  who, 
having  missed  a  lesson,  descended  to  the  Rector's  study  for  a  pri- 
vate interview  later  on.  One  of  his  students,  angered  at  what  he 
thought  was  undue  severity,  said  when  he  became  a  man  and  met 
Dr.  Dalrymple  he  would  thrash  him.  Some  years  after  the  Doc- 
tor went  to  West  River  to  preach,  where  this  gentleman,  Mr. 
Augustus  Hall,  lived,  and  expressed  some  anxiety  as  to  how  he 
would  be  received. 

Captain  Gronow  in  his  Reminiscences  speaks  of  Dr.  Keate,  a 
famous  headmaster.  Some  of  his  old  pupils  who  had  suffered  at 
his  hands  determined  to  give  him  a  dinner  at  the  best  restaurant 
in  Paris  soon  after  Waterloo.  A  most  excellent  dinner  was  ordered 
and  a  jovial  time  was  enjoyed.  Towards  the  end  the  Doctor  ex- 
pressed his  delight  at  finding  his  old  pupils  had  not  forgotten  him. 
They  then  chaffed  him  somewhat,  reminding  him  of  his  heavy 
hand  and  arbitrary  manner  of  proceeding.  The  Doctor  took  their 
jokes  in  good  part,  and  in  his  turn  told  them  if  he  had  a  regret  it 
was  that  he  had  not  flogged  them  a  great  deal  more,  but  he  felt 
certain  that  the  discipline  had  done  them  much  good.  He 
like  Dr.  Dalrymple,  was  a  short,  thickset  man,  with  a  red 
face  and  a  stentorian  voice,  and  the  very  sight  of  the  cocked  hat 


1 88  Dr.  Dai^rymple's  Personalty. 

which  he  always  wore,  like  the  Kmperor  Napoleon,  struck  terror  to 
the  hearts  of  offenders. 

Dr.  Dalrymple  told  me  he  looked  back  on  one  incident  with 
regret.  A  very  pious  boy,  whom  the  boys  laughed  at,  was  asked 
one  day  if  he  thought  God  heard  his  prayers,  as  he  prayed  so 
much.  He  said,  "Certainly,  I  do."  "Then,"  said  the  other, 
"  I  wish  you  would  pray  that  '  old  Dal '  would  give  us  fish  every 
day."  The  Doctor  overheard  the  talk,  but  he  never  thought  till 
too  late  that  he  might  have  fulfilled  that  prayer. 

Dr.  Dalrymple  went  to  Maryland,  where  he  lived  nearly  thirty 
years  longer,  dying  at  the  age  of  sixty-three,  October  30,  1881, 
the  same  year  as  Rev.  Dr.  J.  F.  HofF,  his  friend  and  our  friend — 
a  noble  man,  a  popular  preacher,  a  model  pastor,  a  man  of  large 
gifts  and  attainments.  Dr.  Dalrymple  was  one  of  the  most  learned 
of  our  clergy,  and  had  a  large  and  valuable  library  of  8,000  vol- 
umes. He  was  a  man  of  great  social  gifts,  with  unfailing  interest 
in  all  subjects,  and  able  to  entertain  any  party.  He  had  a  "  bushel 
of  anecdotes,"  always  fresh  and  flowing.  I  never  knew  his  equal 
in  this  respect,  and  I  think  some  of  them  must  be  floating  around 
in  space  now.  He  was  for  a  few  years  in  charge  of  a  country  par- 
ish in  Virginia — in  New  Kent,  I  think — and  being  asked  what 
were  his  vestments  (at  a  time  when  surplices  were  first  being 
used),  he  replied,  thinking  of  his  long  rides  on  muddy  roads, 
"  Generally,  overcoat  and  leggings."  For  many  years  he  was  an 
examining  chaplain  of  the  diocese  of  Maryland,  a  trusted  friend 
of  Bishops  Whittingham  and  Pinkney,  and  until  his  death  was 
secretary  of  the  Convention,  which  position  he  filled  admirably, 
his  good  humor,  genial  spirits  and  exact  knowledge  of  men  and 
things  making  him  invaluable.  He  was  a  warm-hearted,  large- 
minded  man,  and  his  constant  presence  at  our  Seminary  com- 
mencements, where  he  acted  as  secretary  of  the  Alumni,  did 
much  to  make  them  pleasant.  He  has  been  greatly  missed.  A 
truer  man  and  friend,  a  more  genial  companion,  a  more  patient 
and  laborious  scholar  and  thinker,  it  would  be  hard  to  find.  He 
never  married.  He  spent  a  day  or  two  with  me  in  1875,  and  at 
breakfast,  when  the  buckwheat  cakes  were  handed,  he  said,  "  Mrs. 
Packard,  I  am  now  regretting  the  sins  of  my  youth,"  meaning 
that  his  housekeeper  made  no  such  cakes.  I  said,  "  It  is  not  too 
late  to  repent."     He  said,  "  Esau  found  it  so." 

He  had  a  very  tender  heart,  and  touched  by  my  allusions  in  the 
address  at   the  Consecration  of  the  New  Chapel,  he  followed  me 


Rev.  W.  N.  Irish.  189 

into  the  vestry  room  and  taking  me  by  the  hand  burst  into  tears. 
When  my  two  children  died  in  1850,  he  paid  more  than  half  of  my 
doctor's  bill.  He  was  always  very  generous ;  he  gave  me  an 
illustrated  edition  of  Horace,  the  most  beautiful  I  ever  saw. 

Rev.  Wm.  N.  Irish,  of  the  class  of  1849,  was  one  of  Dr.  Dal- 
rymple's  assistants,  and  had  not  been  here  for  many  years  till 
Easter,  1896  ;  the  last  time  before  was  when  Dr.  Dalrymple  sent 
for  him  to  help  him  out  in  a  slander  case  brought  by  one  of  the 
boys.  Mr.  Irish  went  to  Henry  Winter  Davis  to  consult  him 
about  it,  and  he  said,  as  soon  as  he  began  to  speak  of  it,  "  Oh, 
I'll  fix  that  all  right  for  you  ;  that  is  a  perfectly  nonsensical 
suit."  It  came  to  nothing.  Mr.  Irish  was  the  Rector's  right- 
hand  man,  and  the  Doctor  depended  on  him  a  great  deal.  He 
wrote  a  beautiful  hand  and  taught  writing.  My  son  one  day 
bending  over  his  writing  was  heard  to  say,  "Oh,  I  wish  I  could 
write  like  Mr.  Irish,"  his  highest  standard.  He  was  a  school 
sheriff,  as  it  were,  for  if  a  boy  had  to  be  sent  off,  and  a  good 
many  were  expelled  then,  as  was  shown  in  the  catalogue  by  aster- 
isks, it  was  Mr.  Irish  who  took  him  to  town,  bought  his  ticket 
and  saw  him  off  safely.  Mr.  Irish  was  a  warm-hearted,  affection- 
ate man,  and  a  most  useful  minister,  and  I  have  valued  his  friend- 
ship. He  said  to  me  when  last  here,  ' '  Doctor,  I  read  Hebrew  every 
day  in  honor  of  you."  When  here  he  was  very  good  at  it,  was 
long  an  examining  chaplain,  and  has  published  a  book  on  the 
Hebrew  language. 

Rev.  John  P.  McGuire,  of  the  class  of  1825,  succeeded  Dr.  Dal- 
rymple in  October,  1853,  and  under  his  rectorship  the  school  was 
most  successful,  the  school  being  closed  May  i,  1 861,  by  the  war. 
He  was  a  fatherly  man,  and  his  discipline  while  strict  was  gentle. 
The  boys  loved  him  and  Mrs.  McGuire,  and  the  family  life  was 
most  refining  and  elevating.  All  his  old  boys  have  delightful  recol- 
lections of  him  and  of  the  school,  and  rise  up  and  bless  his  name. 
His  daughter  married  Rev.  Kinloch  Nelson,  D.  D.,  our  professor, 
and  his  son,  John  P.  McGuire,  M.  A.,  has  a  large  school  in  Rich- 
mond ;  another  daughter  married  John  Johns,  Esq. 

John  P.  McGuire  was  a  man  of  singular  prudence,  with  a  quiet 
and  undemonstrative  energy,  which  bore  abundant  fruits  in  that 
field  of  labor,  in  which  he  spent  almost  his  entire  ministerial  life. 
The  churches  which  he  revived,  or  planted,  notwithstanding  the 
heavy  reverses  which  their  worshippers  have  undergone,  are  still 
vigorous  with  the  life   which  many  years  ago  he  was  enabled  to 


igo  Rbv.  John  P.  McGuire;. 

infuse.  When  the  school  was  closed,  at  the  opening  of  the  war, 
after  a  short  sojourn  among  his  friends,  and  in  the  city  of  Rich- 
mond, he  returned  to  his  old  home  on  the  Rappahanock,  where, 
tended  by  loving  hands,  and  with  abundant  sympathy,  he  fell 
asleep.  The  McGuires  have  done  noble  work  for  the  Church  in 
Virginia  ;  none  better  than  the  rector  of  the  Episcopal  High 
School.     He  died  in  1867. 

Just  after  the  Convention,  on  May  27,  1856,  Maria  McGuire, 
daughter  of  Rev.  John  P.  McGuire,  died  after  a  short  illness  of 
membranous  croup,  aged  seventeen.  She  and  my  eldest  daughter 
Nannie  were  of  the  same  age  and  like  sisters.  The  whole  neigh- 
borhood loved  and  admired  her.  She  was  lovely  in  life  and 
lovely  in  death.     As  Dr.  May  said,  she  died  in  the  "  triumphs  of 

faith." 

Her  step-mother,  Mrs.  McGuire,  who  died  recently,  writes 
thus  :  "  Her  father  informed  her  that  danger  was  apprehended  ; 
talked  to  her  of  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  She  did  not 
change  countenance,  but  looking  at  hira  assented  to  it,  as  that 
for  which  she  was  ready  and  waiting.  When  he  asked  if  her 
Saviour  was  near,  she  answered  with  a  calm  voice  'Yes,'  and 
whispered  '  All  is  peace,  perfect  peace  ' ;  turned  her  head  upon 
her  pillow  and  thus  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  *  *  =^  The  yard  was 
filled  with  schoolboys,  but  solemn  silence  prevailed.  Her  young 
friends  among  the  boys  sent  to  beg  that  they  might  be  allowed 
to  come  and  take  one  last  look  of  her  whom  they  loved  so  well. 
Her  father  said  '  Yes,  let  theiu  come  up;  it  will  do  them  good  ; 
the  impression  will  last  forever.'  They  came  in  perfect  silence, 
two  or  three  at  a  time  ;  their  tears  flowed.  Her  countenance 
was  radiant.  She  looked  to  me  not  like  one  of  earthly  mould 
but  angelic,  heavenly.  The  undertaker  stepped  into  the  passage 
to  wipe  away  his  tears.  *  *  *  We  carried  her  to  the  Semi- 
nary chapel,  followed  by  the  students  of  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary, the  students  of  the  High  School,  and  the  families  of  the 
neighborhood.  The  pall-bearers,  six  of  the  students,  walked  on 
either  side  of  the  hearse  ;  they  were  Messrs.  Bancroft,  Dalrymple, 

Potter,   Haines,    Mason,  .     After   the   burial  service  had 

been  read.  Bishop  Johns  arose  and  spoke  as  man  can  rarely 
speak.  The  congregation  was  melted  ;  no  man  so  hardened  as 
not  to  weep  then.  They  say  that  our  boys  of  the  High  School 
had  no  self-control,  yet  all  was  quiet.  She  was  buried  in  Kssex 
county,  her  father's  old  parish,  where  she  was  born.     On  the  first 


Rev.  W11.1.1AM  F.  Gardner.  191 

page  of  her  diary  was  written  '  They  that  seek  me  early  shall  find 
me';  and  '  My  father,  thou  art  the  guide  of  my  youth.'  " 

"  Speak,  dead  Maria  !  breathe  a  strain  divine  ; 
Ev'n  from  the  grave  thou  shalt  have  power  to  charm. 
Bid  them  be  chaste,  be  innocent  like  thee  ; 
Bid  them  in  duty's  sphere,  as  meekly  move, 
And  if  so  fair  from  vanity  as  free  ; 
As  firm  in  friendship,  and  as  fond  in  love. 
Heaven  lifts  its  everlasting  portals  high 
And  bids  the  pure  in  heart  behold  their  God." 

Her  death  had  a  blessed  influence  on  the  boys  ;  twenty-five  of 
them  were  deeply  impressed,  and  many  were  confirmed  in  July. 
In  October,  1866,  after  extensive  repairs,  whose  cost  was  ad- 
vanced by  the  new  rector,  the  Rev.  William  F.  Gardner,  the  school 
was  reopened.  Mr.  Gardner  was  an  alumnus  of  the  school  and  of 
the  University  of  Virginia,  a  man  of  lovely  character  and  of 
wholesome  influence  on  the  boys.  He  had  the  school  for  four 
years,  and  his  assistants  were  James  M.  Garnett,  M.  A.,  W.  P. 
Mason,  U.  S.  N.,  George  W.  Peterkin,  Edward  H.  Ingle,  now  the 
Archdeacon  of  Baltimore  ;  Charles  Walker,  son  of  our  Professor, 
whose  early  death  in  the  ministry  was  deeply  lamented  ;  and  Mr. 
Christian.  Mr.  Gardner  married  Miss  Harriet  Rowland,  of  Nor- 
folk, and  in  1870  resigned  the  school  and  became  a  parish  priest. 
He  has  spent  thirty  years  in  Howard  county,  Maryland,  in  one 
parish,  with  deepening  influence  and  ever-widening  work  for 
Christ.  Such  instances  of  long  and  growing  usefulness  in  one 
charge  deserve  our  praise. 

These  long  pastorates  are  characteristic  of  the  Virginia  Semi- 
nary alumni,  as  the  reader  of  these  recollections  must  have 
obs.rved.  Rev.  James  A.  Mitchell,  a  classmate  of  Mr.  Gardner, 
has  been  thirty  years  in  one  parish  at  Centreville.  Maryland. 

In  1870,  L.  M.  Blackford,  M.  A.,  who  had  for  some  years  been 
Associate  Principal  of  Norwood  School,  took  charge,  and  has  con- 
ducted the  school  for  thirty-two  years  with  most  remarkable  suc- 
cess. His  pupils,  coming  from  very  many  States  and  from  difierent 
callings,  have  gone  forth  to  college  and  business  life,  and  now  oc- 
cupy very  prominent  positions  throtighout  the  country  in  every 
profession. 

Mr.  Blackford's  scholarship  and  learning  and  his  high  Chris- 
tian character  have  made  his  management  of  the  High  School 
unique  in  its  long  and  useful  career.     Colonel  I^lewelyn  Hoxton 


192  ly.      M.      BI.ACKFORD. 

came  with  Mr.  Blackford  in  1870  from  successful  work  in  Mary- 
land. A  distinguished  graduate  of  West  Point,  a  gallant  and 
able  officer  in  the  Confederate  army,  an  unexcelled  teacher  of 
mathematics,  all  was  crowned  by  the  character  of  a  stainless 
Christian  gentleman,  which  was  an  inspiration  to  oil  who  came 
within  the  sphere  of  his  influence. 

The  Diocese  and  State  may  well  be  proud  of  the  record  of  the 
Episcopal  High  School  for  nearly  sixty  years,  and  for  the  Chris- 
tian character  and  sound  learning  that  have  been  fostered  there. 
We  trust  it  may  long  continue  under  its  present  efficient  manage- 
ment to  send  forth  noble  sons  into  the  world.  It  is  for  the  South 
what  St.  Paul's  School,  at  Concord,  is  for  the  North.  From 
the  very  beginning  to  the  present  it  has  been  what  Bishop 
Meade  hoped  it  would  be,  a  feeder  to  the  Seminary,  many  of  its 
pupils  coming  to  the  Seminary  later  ;  and  it  would  be  of  interest 
to  have  a  complete  list  of  the  Alumni  common  to  both  institu- 
tions. 

Many  improvements  have  been  added  from  time  to  time  for  the 
comfort  and  pleasure  of  the  boys.  The  most  notable  ones  are  the 
addition  of  one  story  to  the  main  building,  providing  thereby  sep- 
arate rooms  for  every  boy;  the  fine  bathrooms  and  steam  heat,  and 
the  erection  of  Liggett  Hall,  in  memory  of  the  late  Hiram  S. 
Liggett ;  and  a  well-equipped  Infirmary. 


CHAPTER  X[X. 

BISHOP  JOHNS. 

I  AM  sure  that  my  readers  will  wish  to  hear  something  of  Bishop 
John  Johns,  whom  I  knew  well  for  nearly  forty  years, 
and  who  died  ju^t  twenty-six  years  ago  this  Easter. day.  I  became 
acquainted  with  him  first  on  a  visit  to  Baltimore  at  some  gather- 
ing or  convention  shortly  after  my  coming,  early  in  1837.  I 
remember  hearing  him  preach  and  being  deeply  impressed  with 
his  powers  as  a  preacher  and  orator.  His  text  was  "  They  gave 
themselves  first  unto  the  Lord."  I  saw  him  come  out  after 
service  with  Miss  Julia  on  his  arm.  He  had  just  lost  his  first 
wife. 

Bishop  Johns  did  not  wish  any  of  his  manuscripts  published, 
and  no  life  of  him  has  been  written  ;  so  that  much  interesting 
material  is  lost  to  the  Church.  His  life  and  recollections  would 
have  been  of  great  value  and  interest  on  account  of  his  gifts,  his 
important  work,  and  his  wide  influence  and  long  life  in  the  min- 
istry. He  was  born  in  New  Castle,  Delaware,  July  10,  1796,  his 
father  (Kensey  Johns)  being  the  first  Chancellor  of  that  dio- 
cese and  a  distin.s:::uished  lawyer.  The  Chancellor's  father  was 
Captain  Kensey  Johns,  of  West  River,  Maryland,  where  he  was 
a  most  prominent  and  useful  man,  being  sherifi"of  Anne  Arundel 
county,  a  large  merchant,  shipping  tobacco  direct  to  London  and 
importing  goods  in  return,  and  had  a  fine  estate  called  Sudley,  on 
which  the  house  is  still  standing  in  good  condition. 

Bishop  Johns  inherited  this  estate  through  his  father  from  an 
uncle.  Captain  John  Johns,  and  he  often  spent  part  of  his  summers 
there,  delighting  in  its  magnificent  oaks,  which  are  among  the 
finest  I  have  ever  seen — now,  alas,  all  gone  for  ships.  The  place 
is  now  owned  by  his  son.  Dr.  Kensey  Johns,  of  Norfolk,  of  the 
fifth  generation,  and  the  third  of  that  name,  as  far  as  I  know. 
The  house  is  said  to  be  two  hundrel  and  fifty  years  old,  and  the 
parlor  is  wainscoted  in  large  panels  from  floor  to  ceiling,  and  was 
in  good  preservation  a  few  years  ago  when  I  visited  it. 

Chancellor  Johns,  with  whom  I  travelled  once  from  Phila- 
delphia to  New  Castle,  was  ninety  years  old  at  the  time  of  his 
death.     I  have  heard  the  Bishop  say  that   from  the   time   of  his 

193 


194  Bishop  Johns'  Ancestry. 

parents'  death  there  was  never  one  da}^  but  he  had  thought  of 
them,  never  a  day  he  had  not  brought  them  up  before  his  mind  as 
they  looked  when  he  saw  them  last.  There  were  seven  children 
in  the  family,  of  whom  Bishop  Johns  was  the  last  survivor.  His 
brother,  Henry  Van  Dyke,  succeeded  him  as  rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Baltimore,  and  died  in  1859  while  rector  of  Emmanuel 
Church.  His  name  is  a  precious  memory  to  those  who  knew  him, 
and  his  piety  and  ability  were  eminent. 

The  Bishop's  brother,  Kensey  Johns,  Jr.,  was  the  second  Chan- 
cellor of  Delaware.  One  of  his  sisters  married  Mr.  Stockton,  and 
another  married  Dr.  Stewart,  and  was  the  mother  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Kensey  J.  Stewart,  who  entered  our  Seminary  the  year  I  came, 
and  who  died  this  year  in  Richmond. 

The  character  of  a  man  depends  so  much  upon  the  circumstances 
of  his  birth  and  education  that  John  I^ocke  said  "  the  difference  to 
be  found  in  the  manners  and  abilities  of  men  is  owing  more  to  their 
education  than  to  anything  else.  I  think  I  may  say  that  of  all 
the  men  we  meet  with,  nine  out  often  are  what  they  are — good  or 
evil,  useful  or  not — by  their  education."  It  is  now  generally  held 
that  environment  is  a  stronger  force  than  heredity.  John  Johns 
was  undoubtedly,  by  his  natural  gifts,  "fashioned  to  much  honor," 
and  was  placed  in  the  most  favorable  circumstances  for  his 
development,  being  brought  up  in  the  bosom  of  a  refined  and 
highly  cultivated  family. 

Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  of  Princeton  Seminary,  his  lifelong 
friend,  wrote  me  a  long  letter  at  the  time  of  the  Bishop's  death, 
from  which  I  quote.  "  He  was  only  eighteen  months  my  senior, 
but  yet  his  feeling  towards  me  was  always  .somewhat  paternal. 
He  used  to  say,  '  that  he  brought  me  up,  and  if  I  did  not  behave 
he  would  bring  me  down.'  If  he  approved  of  anything  I  had 
written,  his  usual  way  of  expressing  it  was  '  Charles,  I  think  I 
wrote  that.'  " 

"  There  were  two  churches  in  New  Castle,  the  one  Episcopal, 
of  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Clay  was  the  rector  ;  the  other  Presby- 
terian, of  which  the  Rev.  John  Latta  was  pastor.  Each  of  these 
gentlemen  had  a  country  parish,  and  they  so  arranged  it  that  they 
never  officiated  in  the  town  on  the  same  part  of  the  day  on  Sun- 
day. Hence  the  same  congregation  went  in  the  morning  to  the 
one  church  and  in  the  afternoon  to  the  other  ;  and  the  children 
were  baptized  in  the  one  or  the  other,  as  happened  to  be  conve- 
nient.    In  Chief-Justice  Johns'  family  some  of  the  children  were 


CoLLKGE  Life  of  Johns.  195 

Presbyterians  and  others  Episcopalians.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, it  is  not  surprising  that  the  Bishop,  in  the  early  part  of 
his  preparatory  course,  was  undecided  as  to  the  Church  he  should 
serve.  The  late  Rev.  Dr.  James  P.  Wilson,  of  Philadelphia,  before 
he  entered  the  ministry  was  a  distinguished  lawyer  in  Delaware, 
and  an  intimate  friend  of  Judge  Johns.  It  was  under  his  advice 
that  the  Bishop  decided  to  enter  the  service  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  This  decision,  although  neither  of  us  at  the  time  knew 
anything  about  it,  determined  my  whole  course  in  life.  When 
Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  was  appointed  Professor  in  Princeton 
Seminary,  he  had  under  his  care  the  departments  of  Didactic, 
Polemic  and  Pastoral  Theology,  together  with  instruction  in  He- 
brew. He  soon  found  this  was  too  burdensome,  and  therefore  de- 
termined to  select  some  young  man  on  whom  he  might  devolve 
the  Hebrew  Department.  He  selected  Johns,  and  when  he  de- 
cided to  enter  the  Episcopal  Church  he  took  up  with  me." 

' '  Johns  was  always  first — first  everywhere  and  first  in  everything. 
His  success  was  largely  due  to  his  conscientious  determination 
always  to  do  his  best.  He  was  thoroughly  prepared  for  every 
exercise  in  college  and  in  the  Seminary.  Our  class  had  to  study 
Turretin's  System  of  Theology  in  Latin.  Sometimes  a  large 
number  of  pages  would  be  given  out  for  examination,  and  Johns 
was  the  only  one  of  the  class  who  could  master  them  fully.  He 
was  always  the  best  in  the  class.  We  entered  Princeton  College 
together  in  the  fall  of  1812,  and  graduated  in  1815.  Two  of  my 
college  vacations  of  six  weeks  each  I  spent  with  him  in  his  home 
in  New  Castle,  Delaware.  We  slept  together,  prayed  together, 
and  in  social  religious  meetings  told  the  people  the  little  we  knew 
of  Christ,  helping  each  other  out.  We  entered  the  Theological 
Seminary  together  in  1816.  He  remained  only  two  years,  having 
decided  to  enter  the  ministry  in  the  Episcopal  Church."  Rev. 
Horace  E.  Hayden,  a  relative  of  the  Bishop,  asked  Bishop  Johns 
if  he  had  entered  the  Church  through  Dr.  Wilson's  advice.  He 
said  ' '  No,  it  is  not  true.  You  know  that  my  father  was  an  Episco- 
palian, a  communicant  and  warden  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and 
that  I  was  raised  in  that  Church,  and  I  entered  her  ministry 
because  of  my  training  and  my  preference,  because  I  was  convinced 
that  it  had  the  only  form  of  Church  Government  revealed  in  the 
New  Testament."  At  that  time  there  was  no  Seminary  of  our 
Church  to  which  Johns  could  go.  He  studied  at  Princeton  under 
Drs.  Alexander  and  Miller,  to  whom  he  said  he  owed  much.     Both 


196  Character  of  Bishop  Johns. 

Bishops  Meade  and  Johns  were  graduates  of  Princeton  College, 
which  has  a  long  roll  of  eminent  men  from  the  South  as  well  as 
from  the  North. 

Dr.  Hodge  goes  on  to  say  :  "In  the  great  day  of  sorrow  pre- 
dicted by  the  prophet,  it  is  said  '  every  family  shall  mourn  apart.' 
So,  when  such  a  man  as  Bishop  Johns  is  taken  away,  the  whole 
'land  mourneth  ' — his  own  household,  his  Church,  the  commun- 
ity, each  apart.  So  I  mourn  alone.  For  nearly  sixty-four  years 
we  were  as  intimate  and  confidential  as  though  we  had  been  born 
at  one  birth.  In  all  this  time,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection, 
there  was  never  an  angry  word  passed  between  us.  I  have  my 
precious  wife  and  my  children  as  saplings  around  me.  Neverthe- 
less, now  he  is  gone,  I  feel  like  the  last  tree  of  a  forest.  Alas, 
alas  !  he  is  gone.  You  see,  I  cannot  think  or  speak  of  him  ex- 
cept as  to  what  he  was  to  me.  What  he  was  as  a  man,  as  a 
Christian,  as  a  minister,  as  a  bishop,  others  know  as  well  or  bet- 
ter than  I  do  ;  but  I  only  know  what  he  was  to  me — so  good,  so 
kind,  so  loving,  without  a  shadow  of  change  for  sixty-four  years  ! 
Our  last  interview,  in  May  last,  was  the  most  loving  of  our  whole 
lives.  I  '  mourn  apart.'  "  Their  friendship  was  wonderful — like 
that  of  David  and  Jonathan. 

John  Johns  was  ordained  deacon  by  Bishop  White  in  St.  Peter's 
Church,  Philadelphia,  May  6,  1819,  and  priest  the  same  year 
probably,  as  he  is  so  entered  in  the  Maryland  Convention  Journal 
of  1820.  He  was  on  a  visit  to  Garrison  Forest,  near  Baltimore,  a 
few  weeks  after  his  ordination,  and  preached  in  old  St.  Thomas', 
intending  to  remain  and  preach  there  another  Sunday,  but  Mr. 
Henshaw  (afterwards  Bishop)  gave  notice  that  he  would  preach 
the  next  Sunday  in  Frederick,  Md.  He  did  so  and  was  called 
while  deacon  to  that  parish,  where  he  stayed  until  1829.  There 
he  brought  into  the  Church  and  into  its  ministry  Rev.  J.  T. 
Brooke,  who  was  afterwards  a  distinguished  minister  in  Cincin- 
nati and  elsewhere.  He  told  me  that  when  he  took  charge  of  his 
first  parish,  in  Frederick,  Md.,  he  always  began  to  write  his  ser- 
mon on  Monday  morning,  got  it  done  by  Wednesday  evening, 
and  began  to  commit  it  to  memory  Thursday  morning.  This 
habit  of  memorizing  his  sermons  he  discontinued  after  a  time,  and 
instead  wrote  his  sermon  on  his  mind.  To  assist  him  in  pursu- 
ing the  same  train  of  thought  and  language,  he  wrote  down 
on  a  scrap  of  paper  a  catch-word  in  each  sentence,  which  he 
carried  with  him  into  the  pulpit  but  never  appeared  to  use.     I 


Dr.  Johns  as  Preacher.  i97 

found  once  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Alexandria,  after  he  had 
preached,  a  small  slip  of  paper  in  his  handwriting  containing 
such  disconnected  catch-words  of  sentences. 

While  his  mode  of  preparation  could  not  be  judiciously  recom- 
mended to  every  one,  no  doubt  it  was  best  for  him  and  contributed 
to  his  extraordinary  readiness  in  thought  and  utterance  on  all 
occasions,  in  which  I  never  knew  any  one  in  Congress  or  at  the 
bar  or  in  the  pulpit  to  excel  him.     He  never  seemed  to  find  any 
difficulty  in  expressing  himself,  and  that,  too,  in  the  most  apt  and 
felicitous  words,  of  which  you  would  not  like  to  change  a  single 
one      No  difference  in  his   style  could  be  detected  when  called 
upon  unexpectedly  or  when  given  time  for  preparation,  so  well 
trained  was  his  mind  and  so  great  and  available  were  his  resources. 
Bishop  Johns  told  me  that  he  would  be  as  erabarassed  with  a 
manuscript  as  a  person  used  to  reading  sermons  would  be  with- 
out a  manuscript.     He  told  a  student  that  preparing  a  sermon 
was  uphill  work  and  never  got  any  easier.     Of  course,  the  art  of 
composition  gets  more  perfect  and  easy  by  practice,  but  the  pre- 
sentation of  truth  in  the  best  way  is  always  difficult. 

God  gives  to  his  servants  varying  talents— five,  two  or  one- 
according  to  the  ability  of  each.  To  Bishop  Johns,  we  may  truly 
say  he  gave  five— a  bright  intellect,  an  emotional  nature,  natural 
earnestness,  a  melodious  voice,  and  facility  and  felicity  of  speech. 
He  was  not  like  Moses,  slow  of  speech  and  of  a  slow  tongue.  He 
possessed  a  combination  of  gifts  rarely  found  in  the  same  person. 
He  avoided  the  usual  faults  of  what  is  called  extemporaneous 
preaching-its  shallowness,  dicursiveness  and  repetiiion-by  a 
most  thorough  study  and  preparation  of  his  subject  and  material. 
He  had  that  most  valuable  gift,  the  methodic  arrangement  of  his 
thoughts  and  words,  grounded  on  the  habit  of  foreseeing  m  every 
sentence  the  whole  thought  which  he  intended  to  communicate. 

The  foundation  of  his  success  as  a  preacher  was  laid  m  his 
thorough  knowledge  of  theology.  He  had  been,  as  we  have 
seen  well  trained  at  Princeton.  While  the  learning  of  others 
might  have  been  more  extensive,  it  was  not  so  accurate.  What 
he  knew  he  knew  perfectly,  and  it  was  always  at  command.  No 
one  of  our  bishops,  in  my  opinion,  was  so  familiar  with  the  wri- 
tings of  the  old  divines,  not  only  of  the  Church  of  England,  but 
of  the  Continent.  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  because  his 
preaching  was  so  simple  that  the  common  people  heard  him  gladly, 
he  was  not  esteemed  a  great  theologian,  as  he  truly  was. 


198  Character  of  His  Preaching. 

It  may  be  truly  said  of  him  that  "  he  preached  Christ."  As 
St.  Paul,  before  he  visited  Corinth,  determined  to  know  nothing 
but  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified,  so  Bishop  Johns,  before  he 
entered  the  ministry-,  determined  to  preach  Christ,  and  this  at  all 
times.  Before  the  General  Convention  in  Baltimore  he  preached 
on  his  favorite  theme,  "The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us,"  a 
sermon  which  Dean  Howson,  in  his  published  account  of  the 
General  Convention,  described  as  "  very  eloquent."  Upon  his 
deathbed  he  said,  "If  I  should  get  well  again  I  would  preach 
the  love  of  Christ  more  impressively  than  ever." 

He  led  his  hearers  to  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and  besought  them 
to  turn  aside  and  see  the  great  sight  of  a  crucified  Saviour.  He 
testified  repentance  towards  God  and  faith  towards  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  never  digressed  to  preach  on  the  philosophy  of 
religion,  or  on  subjects  not  accompanying  salvation,  but  his  ser- 
mons were  variations  of  one  theme,  which  to  him  never  lost  its 
freshness  and  interest  and  power,  but  seemed  to  grow  upon  him, 
as  though  he  was  telling  the  good  news  of  salvation  as  news  and 
not  as  an  old  story,  as  though  he  had  just  received  it  fresh  from 
heaven,  as  though  he  had  himself  just  believed  it  for  the  first 
time. 

On  the  fifty-fifth  anniversary  of  his  ordination  he  preached  in 
the  chapel,  and  after  expressing  his  fervent  thanks  to  God  that 
He  had  called  him  by  His  grace  to  the  ministry  of  reconciliation, 
and  granted  him  so  long  a  continuance  in  it,  he  earnestly  and 
affectionately  exhorted  his  young  brethren  never  to  be  weary  in 
the  service  of  their  Lord  and  Master.  He  was  a  laborious 
preacher  and  labored  to  the  last.  Within  two  years  of  his  death 
he  preached  twice  a  day  with  great  energy  and  animation  for  a 
fortnight  together.  He  preached  the  gospel  fifty-seven  years, 
and  was  in  charge  of  only  two  parishes  in  his  ministry  of  twenty- 
three  years.  From  the  very  first  he  took  high  rank  as  a  preacher. 

When  he  went  to  Baltimore  he  had  charge  of  ^A/  Christ  Church, 
corner  of  Baltimore  and  Front  Streets.  A  new  church  was 
built  for  him  in  1857,  ^^  ^^Y  Street,  which,  large  as  it  was,  was 
filled  every  Sunday,  and  which,  now  under  the  rectorship  of  Rev. 
Peregrine  Wroth,  for  twenty-five  years,  has  done  noble  work 
for  Christ  in  old  Baltimore.  In  Baltimore  he  was  thought  the 
best  preacher,  though  Dr.  Nevin,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  was 
a  very  popular  preacher.  All  denominations  went  to  hear  him  at 
night. 


KI.KCTION  AS  Bishop.  i99 

He  was  twice  elected  Bishop  of  Maryland  by  a  good  majority 
of  votes,  but  the  rule  requiring  two-thirds  of  the  members  to  elect 
defeated  him,  as  the  Church  parties  were  strictly  marked.  The 
first  election  was  when  he  was  only  thirty- two  years  old,  in  1829. 

At  the  Virginia  Convention  in  Staunton,  May  21,  1842,  he  was 
elected  Assistant  to  Bishop  Meade  by  a  vote  of  43  out  of  49  of  the 
clergy,  and  on  motion  of  Mr.  John  Nelson  the  election  was  con- 
sidered unanimotis.  He  was  consecrated  in  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Richmond,  October  13,  1842,  by  Bishops  Griswold,  Meade,  Ives 
and  Whittingham. 

After  living  a  few  years  in  Richmond  he  was  elected,  in  1849, 
President  of  William  and  Mary  College,  where  he  remained  five 
years.  Feeling  that  Alexandria  was  the  most  convenient  centre 
of  the  Diocese,  as  far  as  travelling  was  concerned,  he  built  a  house 
on  Seminary  Hill,  where  he  removed  with  his  family  in  1854,  and 
named  it  Malvern.  His  second  wife,  who  was  a  Miss  Shaaff,  died 
after  he  came  there.  We  all  attended  the  burial  in  Georgetown, 
going  in  hacks.  I  think  it  was  on  Friday  and  Bishop  Johns  was 
in  his  usual  place  in  the  chancel.  I  preached  Sunday  on  the 
text  "  Here  we  have  no  continuing  city,"  and  I  was  told  it  was 
very  appropriate. 

It  was  a  great  blessing  to  us  when  he  came  to  live  near  the 
Seminary.  He,  with  his  household,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  re- 
posed under  the  refreshing  shade  and  partook  of  the  pleasant 
fruit  of  this  tree  of  the  I^ord's  planting."  "  I  love,"  he  goes  on 
to  say,  ' '  to  stand  and  look  upon  this  Seminary  in  the  size,  strength 
and  symmetry  which  it  has  attained,  and  think  what  a  blessing  it 
has  proved  far  and  near.  The  Church  of  Virginia  owes  it  a  debt 
of  gratitude  which  should,  and  I  am  sure  will,  ensure  its  steady 
and  generous  support." 

His  love  for  rural  sights  and  sounds,  for  trees  and  shrubs  and 
flowers,  first  developed  itself  here,  as  he  told  me.  It  was  the  solace 
of  his  cares  to  improve  his  grounds,  which,  year  by  year,  grew  in 
beauty  under  his  fosteringlcare,  and  his  own  hands  planted  nearly 
ever^^  tree  and  shrub. 

His  Episcopate  of  nearly  thirty-four  years  was  passed  during  a 
perilous  time,  and  he  always  bore  himself  with  great  wisdom,  mod- 
eration and  ability.  He  was  a  Low- Churchman,  holding  moderate 
views  in  matters  of  Church  polity  and  strongly  Protestant  views 
of  the  sacraments.  He  was  devoted  to  the  Episcopal  Church  and 
himself  strictly  rubrical,  when  many  were  careless  of  such  things. 


200  Bishop  Johns'  Episcopate. 

He  held  fast,  to  use  his  own  language,  "  to  the  ecclesiastical  polity- 
set  forth  in  the  preface  to  the  Ordination  Service — so  much — no 
more — no  less — conservative,  but  not  exaggerated  or  exclusive  to 
the  three  orders  existing  from  the  Apostles'  time,  and  no  other 
ministry  to  be  recognized"  in  this  Church;  he  loved  as  brethren, 
in  the  like  precious  faith  and  hope  of  the  gospel,  those  without 
his  own  Church.  After  showing  to  Rev.  Mr.  Latan^,  who  with- 
drew from  the  Church,  that  his  reasons  for  so  doing  were  invalid, 
he  spoke  thus  lovingly  :  "  Paul  and  Barnabas  departed  asunder — 
that  was  all ;  neither  of  them  withdrew  from  the  Church.  If,  how- 
ever, you  think  you  must  make  the  experiment,  I  trust  you  will 
only  depart  for  a  season,  *  *  *  and  you  will  find  me  ready,  or 
rather  hastening  as  fast  as  my  tottering  steps  will  permit,  to  wel- 
come you  to  your  early  home." 

I  cannot  do  justice  to  my  sense  of  his  value  to  this  Seminary. 
He  was  the  President  of  its  Faculty,  and  gave  instruction  to  the 
Senior  Class  in  Pastoral  Theology  and  Homiletics.  The  students 
derived  great  benefit  from  his  long  experience,  his  example  of 
what  a  minister  of  Christ  ought  to  be,  and  from  his  kind  and  dis- 
criminating criticism.  He  sat  in  the  chancel  of  this  chapel,  where 
his  presence  added  interest  to  our  services,  and  we  not  unfre- 
quently  heard  his  voice  from  this  pulpit  and  hung  delighted  upon 
his  lips.  The  last  sermon  he  preached  in  this  chapel  was  on  Feb- 
ruary 12,  1876,  from  I.  Peter  i  :  4,  5,  on  the  incorruptible  inheri- 
tance, whose  glory  he  unfolded  before  us,  and  on  the  security  of 
the  believer  in  attaining  it,  so  that,  though  tossed  with  tempest 
upon  the  waves  of  this  troublesome  world,  he  will  at  last  reach 
the  shore, 

"  Where  tempests  never  beat  nor  billows  roar." 

On  Sunday,  March  5th,  he  received,  for  the  last  time,  with  the 
utmost  fervor,  the  Comrauniou  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ. 

I  would  only  add  on  this  point  that  his  heart  was  bound  up  in 
the  Seminary,  and  that  he  w  itched  over  its  interests  in  the  most 
paternal  manner.  Among  his  last  earthly  cares  was  the  comple- 
tion of  its  endowment  by  the  Diocese,  and  among  his  last  audible 
prayers  to  the  "great  Head  of  the  Church,"  as  he  addressed  Him, 
were  those  for  the  beloved  Seminary  and  Diocese. 

His  old  students  well  remember  his  kindly-made  criticisms 
when  he  was  Professor  of  Homiletics  for  several  years  at  the  Semi- 
nary.    He  was  well  fitted  for  this  duty,  as  he  was  a  master  of  the 


Instructor  in  Homilktics.  201 

subject  himself.  His  criticisms  were  sometimes  caustic.  He  said 
to  one  student  that  his  fancy  was  a  jade  that  needed  to  be  held  in 
with  a  strong  bridle,  else  it  would  run  away  with  him.  To 
another,  who  had  endeavored  to  be  very  profound  and  philosophi- 
cal in  his  treatment  of  the  subject,  he  said  "You  are  too  deep  for 
me."  To  a  student  who  thought  he  had  made  a  point  very  clear, 
"I  cannot  see  it."  To  one  who  used  the  phrase  "  The  curtain 
rises  here,"  the  Bishop,  thinking  the  expression  not  suitable  to  a 
sermon,  said  "We'll  let  it  drop,  sir."  He  said  to  another  that 
he  had  used  the  word  men  forty  times  in  his  sermon  ;  the  student 
counted  over  that  number,  and  then  stopped,  in  disgust.  He 
cautioned  students  against  carrying  too  far  an  illustration,  as  did 
Christmas  Evans,  the  great  Welsh  preacher,  in  the  miracle  of 
the  swine  in  Gadara.  He  paints  it  so  minutely  that  it  really 
becomes  ludicrous  by  reason  of  the  words  put  in  the  mouth  of  the 
swineherds,  who  told  their  master  of  the  loss  he  had  sustained. 
"Oh,  sir,"  says  one,  "  the  pigs  have  all  gone  !"  "But,"  says 
the  master,  "where  have  they  gone?"  "  They  have  run  down 
into  the  sea."  "But  who  drove  them  down?"  "Oh!  sir,  that 
wonderful  man."  "Well,  what  sort  of  a  man  was  he?  What 
did  he  do  ?"  "  Why,  sir,  he  came  and  talked  such  strange  things, 
and  the  whole  herd  suddenly  ran  down  the  steep  place  into  the 
sea."  "  What,  the  old  black  boar  and  all?"  "Yes,  the  old 
black  boar  has  gone  too  ;  for  as  we  looked  around  we  just  saw  the 
end  of  his  tail  going  over  the  cliflf." 

He  warned  against  fictitious  methods  of  keeping  up  interest, 
and  preaching  on  moral  subjects.  Keep  the  heart  warm  with  love 
to  God. 

Bishop  Johns  was  remarkable  for  his  pleasantry.  He  never 
indulged  it  to  excess  or  out  of  season.  Speaking  of  Miss  Marsh's 
life  of  her  father,  in  which  she  describes  him  as  without  fault,  he 
said  she  made  him  out  an  "  old  angel." 

He  related  an  incident  of  old  Dr.  Armstrong,  of  Wheeling,  I 
think,  who  had  an  officious  warden,  who  told  him  of  everything 
that  was  said  to  hi^  discredit  in  the  parish.  The  warden  said  to 
him  one  day,  "  They  are  talking  about  you,  Doctor  !  "  "  Well," 
he  said,  "what  are  they  saying  now?"  "  They  say  you  are 
playing  checkers."  Dr.  Armstrong  replied,  "  Keep  them  at  that ; 
keep  them  at  that  !  " 

I  have  heard  him  tell  of  a  minister  to  whose  parish  he  was  mak- 
ing a  visitation,  and  who  said  to  him,  "  Bishop,  I  had  a  class  for 


2o2  Bishop  Johns'  Wit. 

confirmation  for  you,  but  they  have  all  slipped  through  my  fingers, 
except  my  wife." 

As  an  illustration  of  his  playfulness,  I  might  give  this  :  When 
General  Samuel  Cooper's  daughter,  who  lived  near  him,  and  of 
whom  he  was  very  fond,  went  to  ask  him  to  marry  her,  Mrs. 
Johns  said  to  her,  "  The  Bishop  is  in  his  study  now.  I'll  take 
you  in  and  then  leave  you."  \\  hen  alone  with  the  Bishop  she 
said,  "  Bishop,  I  have  come  to  ask  you  to  marry  me."  He  replied, 
"Jennie,  I  wouldn't  marry  you  if  you  were  the  last  woman  in  the 
world." 

Traveling  once  with  Dr.  Hodge,  they  saw  that  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic priest  had  a  pass,  and  Dr.  Hodge  said,  "  You  ought  to  travel 
at  half- fare  (it  was  before  half-rate  days),  if  he  goes  free."  An- 
other time,  when  they  were  together  after  a  service,  Dr.  Hodge 
put  on  the  Bishop's  robes  and  said,  "This  makes  a  bishop  !  " 
"  Not  now,"  said  Bishop  Johns. 

Wherever  he  preached  as  bishop  he  made  a  great  impression 
upon  the  audience.  I  have  heard  a  member  of  Congress,  Jere- 
miah Morton,  mention  a  sermon  of  his  on  the  text,  "In  my 
father's  house  are  many  mansions,"  as  very  comforting.  While 
residing  at  the  Seminary  he  preached  at  West  End,  a  suburb  of 
Alexandria.  Several  of  the  students,  among  whom  was  Lucius 
W.  Bancroft,  went  down  to  hear  him.  His  subject  was,  "The 
believer  scarcely  saved,"  and  in  mentioning  the  difficulty  of  sal- 
vation, he  said  he  reserved  to  the  last  the  greatest  difficulty  of  all. 
"  What  was  that  ?  "  "  It  is  here  !  "  he  said,  striking  his  breast. 
I  once  heard  him  speak  in  Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  when  he 
quoted  the  familiar  lines — 

"  All  the  fitness  he  requireth 
Is  to  feel  your  need  of  Him." 

I  never  heard  him  tell  an  anecdote  in  his  sermons,  nor  indulge  in 
any  clap-trap.  He  never  degraded  the  pulpit  to  the  level  of  the 
stage,  nor  walked  up  and  down  the  platform  like  a  lion  in  his 
cage.  I  heard  him  preach  on  "  There  is  no  beautj^  in  him  that 
we  should  desire  him  ;  "  and  "  Hinder  me  not,"  which  converted 
young  Entwistle. 

He  was  once  preaching  on  a  subject  which  led  him  to  speak  of 
the  perseverance  of  the  saints.  He  said  he  did  not  believe  in  the 
perseverance  of  the  saints,  but  in  God's  perseverance  in  keeping 
them.     It  might  be  inferred  from  this  that  he  was  inclined  to 


Striking  Sermons.  203 

Calvinism.     His  Calvinism  was  of  a  mild  type,  like  that  of  Arch- 
bishop lyeighton.     It  gave  color  to  all  his  sermons  and  addresses. 

He  had  a  wonderful  skill  in  adapting  himself  to  his  congrega- 
tion. I  went  once  with  him  on  his  visitation  to  Falls  Church, 
and  he  told  me  that  he  had  not  decided  what  sermon  to  preach 
until  he  should  see  the  congregation.  His  text  was  "  Many 
shall  seek  to  enter  in  and  shall  not  be  able."  I  wish  I  could 
remember  the  four  divisions.  I  recall  the  four  divisions  on  text, 
Luke  xiii.  23  :  (i)  If  unsaved  it  will  not  be  because  God  has  made 
no  provision  for  us  or  because  he  desires  the  death  of  any  ;  (2) 
Nor  because  of  our  great  sins.  His  blood  cleanses  from  all  sin  ; 
(3)  Nor  for  the  want  of  information  or  opportunity.  Now,  if 
never  before,  it  is  given  ;  (4)  Nor  because  of  any  obstacles  or 
difficulties.  My  grace  is  sufficie:it  for  thee.  He  had  the  rare 
faculty  of  being  able  to  preach  a  large  number  of  sermons  with- 
out any  preparation.  I  often  coveted  his  facility  of  expressing 
himself.  If  you  asked  him  his  views  of  inspiration  he  would 
state  the  subject  of  inspiration  in  the  clearest  possible  manner,  so 
that  his  statement  could  be  committed  at  once  to  print. 

At  the  General  Convention  of  our  Church  in  Baltimore,  in  1871, 
he  preached  the  opening  sermon  on  the  text,  "The  love  of 
Christ  constraineth  us."  At  that  time  there  was  a  delegation 
from  the  Church  of  England  present — among  them  Bishop  Selwyn 
and  Dean  Howson,  who  pronounced  it  very  eloquent  and  alluded  to 
it  publicly.  A  passage  in  it  was  long  remembered  by  some  who 
heard,  in  which  he  touchingly  commented  upon  death  as  the 
great  separator,  which  yet  was  incapable  of  separating  the  be- 
liever from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 
He  used  no  manuscript,  even  on  this  occasion. 

Many  of  his  favorite  texts  and  sermons  are  remembered  now  by 
those  who  heard  him.  Some  of  them  I  have  given  ;  others  were 
"  Compel  them  to  come  in  ;  "  "  Who  of  God  is  made  unto  us  wis- 
dom, righteousness,  sanctification  and  redemption  ;"  "  The  Mas- 
ter is  come  and  calleth  for  thee  ;"  "  My  heart  is  fixed,  serving 
the  Lord,"  etc.  He  was  a  very  fine  elocutionist,  and  his  voice 
was  so  finely  trained  that  it  was  said  his  whisper  could  be  heard 
in  a  large  building.  His  gestures  were  most  graceful  and  expres- 
sive, and  while  very  abundant  were  perfectly  natural  to  him.  He 
was  an  authority  in  the  matter  of  pronunciation,  and  I  can  only 
recall  one  mistake  of  that  kind,  when  he  read  of  Barabbas  as  a 
notable  instead  of  notable  prisoner,  the  two  pronunciations  being 


204  Infi<uence  of  general  Church. 

used  with  a  different  meaning.  A  Methodist  class-leader,  hearing 
him  at  Salem,  Fauquier  county,  was  delighted  and  remarked,  "  I 
did  not  know  that  you  had  such  an  available  Kpiscopate."  lu 
preaching  he  leaned  towards  one  side. 

When  Rev.  Douglas  Forrest  was  ordained  in  St.  Paul's,  Alex- 
andria, I  presented  him,  and  Bishop  Johns  was  preaching  the  ser- 
mon, when  suddenly  he  made  a  pause.  Dr.  Norton  rose  from  his 
seat  to  go  to  him,  when,  after  a  minute,  he  began  to  preach  again, 
but  I  could  see  that  there  was  no  connection  between  the  first  part 
of  his  sermon  and  that  which  came  after.  He  told  me  that  when  he 
came  to  himself  after  that  pause  he  saw  that  it  was  an  ordination, 
and  that  he  must  say  something  appropriate,  but  he  had  not  the 
slightest  recollection  of  anything  that  had  gone  before. 

In  the  General  Convention  of  1871,  he  had  an  important  influ- 
ence in  the  all  but  unanimous  adoption  by  the  Bishops  of  this  as 
to  the  service  for  Infant  Baptism:  "  We  declare,  that  in  our  opin- 
ion, the  word  '  regenerate '  is  not  there  so  used  as  to  determine 
that  a  moral  change  in  the  subject  of  Baptism  is  wrought  by  that 
sacrament."  He  said  that  there  had  been  long  and  unsatisfactory 
discussion  on  this  point  in  the  House  of  Bishops,  that  he  passed  a 
sleepless  night,  and  that  this  word  "  deterinine'''  had  then  occured 
to  him  as  the  best  word,  and  when  suggested  the  next  day  it  was 
adopted.  He  was  firm  and  decided  in  his  opposition  to  Ritualism 
and  was  one  of  the  twenty-eight  bishops  who  signed  the  declara- 
tion against  it,  drafted  by  Bishop  Coxe,  which  contains  the  fol- 
lowing: "  We  therefore  consider  that  in  this  particular  National 
Church,  any  attempt  to  introduce  into  the  public  worship  of  Al- 
mighty God  usages  that  have  never  been  known,  such  as  the  use 
of  incense,  and  the  burning  of  lights  in  the  Order  of  the  Holy 
Communion,  reverences  to  the  Holy  Table,  or  to  the  elements  thereon, 
the  adoption  of  clerical  habits  hitherto  unknown,  or  material 
alterations  of  those  in  use,  is  an  innovation  which  violates  the 
discipline  of  the  Church." 

His  death  was  a  loss  to  the  whole  Church  as  well  as  to  his  dio- 
cese, and  it  was  spoken  of  in  all  the  Church  papers  and  in  those 
of  other  churches.  As  the  years  went  on,  increased  respect  and 
affection  was  felt  for  him.  Bishop  Pinkney  wrote  a  beautiful  and 
touching  letter  about  him  to  our  Standing  Committee,  and  the 
churches  of  the  diocese  passed  resolutions  on  his  death.  His 
decease  was  an  ideal  one.  He  had  filled  his  days  and  attained  the 
age  of  which  the  Psalmist  says  that  it  is  but  labor  and  sorrow. 


Old  Age  and  Death.  205 

Time,  however,  had  dealt  gently  with  him  and  impaired  but  little 
apparently  of  the  vigor  of  his  frame  or  of  the  activity  of  his  mind. 
Bishop  Johns'  character  was  remarkable  for  its  smoothness  and 
roundness  ;  as  the  I,atins  say,  he  was  teres  atqiie  rotundus.  What 
Tacitus  said  of  his  father-in-law  was  true  of  him  :  Nihil  metus  in 
vultu;  gratia  oris  supererat;  bomim  virum  facile  crederes,  magnum 
libenter.  His  personal  character,  his  animation  in  society,  his 
warm  and  cordial  greeting,  the  indescribable  charm  of  his  man- 
ner, the  bright  twinkle  of  his  eye,  his  playful  humor,  the  culture 
and  bearing  of  a  perfect  gentleman,  drew  all  hearts  to  him.  His 
presence  shed  sunshine  on  all  around. 

"  His  eye  was  meek  and  gentle,  and  a  smile 
Play'd  on  his  lips  ;  and  in  his  speech  was  heard 
Paternal  sweetness,  dignity  and  love." 

On  Ash-Wednesday,  1876,  he  attended  services  in  the  chapel, 
which  was  insufficiently  warmed.  On  reaching  my  gate  he  said 
to  one  of  my  family,  "  Were  you  not  very  cold  in  church  to-day  ?  " 
and  said  he  had  been.  That  very  day  he  had  taken  out  of  the 
library  two  volumes  of  Bishop  Bull's  works,  and  was  reading 
with  much  interest  Rogers'  Superhuman  Origin  of  the  Bible  and 
Ker's  Sermons.  He  preached  for  the  last  time  February  12, 
1876,  and  soon  after  he  had  a  slight  attack  of  paralysis  and  felt 
and  said  that  his  work  was  done.  He  bore  with  gentle  patience 
the  wearisome  nights  appointed  him  till  "  the  voice  at  midnight 
came  ; ' '  and  he  gave  worthy  testimony  of  his  faith  in  Christ. 

Some  of  his  last  words  were  treasured  up  by  those  who  were 
with  him,  and  we  give  them  for  the  comfort  of  those  who  have 
yet  to  meet  the  last  enemy  and  to  walk  through  the  valley  which 
separates  the  land  of  the  living  from  the  untried  hereafter.  Among 
much  that  he  said  in  solemn,  earnest  tones,  were  these  words  :  "  I 
would  not  raise  a  finger  to  dictate  ;  it  is  all  well.  If  the  Lord 
had  ordered  it  I  would  willingly  have  labored  on  in  this  service. 
I  loved  my  work.  If  the  Lord  raises  me  up,  I  would  strive  to 
preach  Christ  with  more  zeal,  and  his  love  more  earnestly.  I 
have  preached  it  all  my  life,  and  if  I  were  to  get  up  to-morrow,  I 
could  preach  nothing  better  than  that."     Often  would  he  repeat, 

"I'm  a  poor  sinner  and  nothing  at  all, 
And  Jesus  Christ  is  my  all  in  all," 

saying  "That's  enough;  that  is  the  gospel."     Again  he  said, 
"The   sting   of  death   is   taken   away.      Victory!      Victory!" 


2o6  Bishop  Johns'  Death. 

When  told  how  his  people  were  praying  for  him  in  all  the 
churches,  he  said,  "May  the  great  High  Priest  take  them  all 
and  present  them  before  God.  What  a  comfort  to  have  the  prayers 
of  God's  people  !     May  God  answer  them  all,  unworthy  as  I  am." 

The  Sunday  morning  before  he  died,  as  he  was  raised  up  in  bed 
he  exclaimed  "  Oh,  beautiful  dawn  of  day!  What  will  it  be  when 
the  day  dawns  that  has  no  end!  Glory  be  to  God  on  high,  on 
earth  peace,  good  will  towards  men!  A  glorious  day!  He  rose 
this  day.  O  God,  send  down  Thy  Holy  Spirit  upon  thy  Church 
and  Thy  ministers!  May  they  proclaim  Thy  gospel  with  power 
this  day  to  the  salvation  of  souls!  God  bless  my  Church,  my 
ministers,  my  people  (opening  his  arms),  and  fold  them  in  the 
arms  of  the  everlasting  covenant." 

He  often  prayed  aloud  for  "  humility  "  for  "  grace  to  bear  and  be 
benefited  by  this  trial."  When  too  weak  to  speak  aloud,  his 
whispers  were  heard,  "Guide  me — wash  me — clothe  me — help 
me  under  the  shadow  of  Thy  wings." 

In  his  last  conscious  moments,  with  all  his  dear  family  around 
him,  his  youngest  sou,  the  Rev.  Arthur  S.  Johns,  read  the  prayer 
commending  the  soul  of  this  servant  of  Christ  "  into  the  hands  of 
a  faithful  Creator  and  most  merciful  Saviour." 

Truly  I  said  of  him,  as  I  have  said  of  many  since,  last  of  all  of 
Dr.  Suter,  "These  Evangelicals  die  well." 

His  burial  took  place  on  Friday,  April  7,  1876,  and  after  his 
death  a  cemetery  was  made  on  the  slope  of  the  Seminary  Hill 
facing  Malvern,  and  there  he  was  buried ;  and  thither  were 
removed  later  on,  the  remains  of  Bishops  Meade  and  Payne,  of 
Dr.  Sparrow,  and  last  of  all  was  buried  there  Dr.  Kinloch  Nelson. 
It  is  a  sweet  and  sacred  spot.  Bishop  Payne,  on  his  deathbed,  had 
requested  that  he  might  buried  at  the  Seminary,  so  as  to  remind 
the  students  of  Africa  and  its  claims. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
VIRGINIA  CONVENTIONS. 

THE  very  name  Virginia  Conveiition  calls  up  most  pleasing 
and  sacred  memories.  The  word  Convention  was  changed 
to  Co2incil  by  the  Church  in  Virginia  at  its  meeting  in  Richmond 
in  May,  1862,  and  this  term  was  adopted  for  the  general^meeting 
of  the  Southern  dioceses  during  the  war.  It  is  far  more  suitable 
than  Convention,  which  is  used  of  political  assemblies,  and  is  apt 
to  cause  confusion,  since  their  spring  meetings  usually  occur  near 
together.  I  have  wondered  that  other  dioceses  have  not  chosen 
this  more  primitive  and  churchly  term.  Virginia  is  conservative, 
but  in  it  may  be  found  the  true  Churchmanship  which  loves  the 
Bible  and  the  Prayer-Book,  and  is  not  given  to  "the  novelties 
that  disturb  our  peace,"  in  doctrine,  discipline  or  worship.  I 
shall  use  the  old  word  Convention,  as  it  was  first  known  to  me, 
and  shall  give  some  scattering  recollections  of  these  meetings,  so 
dear  to  ministers,  laymen  and  lay  women  of  Virginia.  The  great 
event  in  the  religious  life  of  Church  people  in  Virginia  was  this 
annual  gathering,  and  many  could  sing,  with  pious  Israel  of  old, 
A  Song  of  the  goings  up,  as  in  Psalm  122, 

' '  I  was  glad  when  they  said  unto  me, 
Let  us  go  to  the  house  of  the  Lord, 
Whither  the  tribes  go  up,  the  tribes  of  the  Lord, 
To  give  thanks  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

It  was  not  indeed  always  so,  for  there  had  been  a  time,  and  a 
long  time  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  when  the  Church  in  Vir- 
ginia, sharing  in  the  odium  that  was  felt  towards  England  and  all 
things  connected  with  her,  and  just  beginning  her  existence  as  a 
part  of  the  National  Church,  suffered  persecution  and  robbery  of 
her  possessions.  But  better  times  began  for  Virginia  in  181 2,  the 
year  of  my  birth,  when  William  Meade,  William  H.  Wilmer, 
D.  D.,  of  the  clergy,  and  Edward  C.  McGuire  and  Edmund  I. 
Lee,  of  the  laity,  with  many  others,  began  to  labor  earnestly  for 
the  growth  and  welfare  of  the  Church.  When  I  came,  in  1836, 
things  were  advancing  most  prosperously  for  our  Church,  and  the 

207 


2o8  A  Virginia  Convention. 

Conventions  were  very  well  attended,  considering  tlie  difficulty  of 
travelling.  There  was  no  railroad  then,  nor  for  many  years  after, 
through  Virginia,  so  that  all  journeys  were  made  by  private  con- 
veyance or  by  stage.  I  did  not  go  to  the  Convention  of  1837  in 
Petersburg,  nor  to  Winchester  in  1838,  because  of  the  long  and 
expensive  journey. 

Rev.  Dr.  Henshaw,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island,  wrote  : 
"A  Virginia  Convention!  There  is  something  to  warm  the  heart 
in  the  very  title.  Other  Conventions  are  business  assemblies. 
But  in  this,  business  is  a  secondary  matter.  Persons  of  all  ranks 
and  ages — young  men  and  maidens,  old  men  and  children — gather 
for  spiritual  edification.  It  is  like  the  solemn  festival  of  God's 
people  of  old — for  thither  the  tribes  go  up,  the  tribes  of  the 
Ivord,  to  testify  unto  Israel,  to  give  thanks  to  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  In  the  hallowed  season  of  this  festival  the  Bishop  is  the 
presiding  genius,  a  leader  in  the  numerous  devotional  services, 
morning,  noon  and  night.  His  heart  glows  with  love,  his  eyes 
sparkle  with  hope  and  joy,  and  his  tongue  flows  with  melting  elo- 
quence. As  he  saw  the  Word  taking  effect  and  witnessed  answers 
to  prayers,  he  rose  to  higher  and  higher  degrees  of  enjoyment, 
till  as  the  end  drew  near  he  seemed  in  a  rapture,  ready,  like  Elijah, 
to  go  up  to  Heaven  in  a  chariot  of  fire.  Never  have  I  witnessed  a 
scene  which  so  answered  to  our  idea  of  the  love  and  joy  of  the 
primitive  Church,  as  the  closing  services  of  a  Virginia  Conven- 
tion. The  body  of  weeping  clergymen  gathered  around  the  chan- 
cel, while,  in  the  presence  of  a  crowded  but  praying  assembly,  the 
Bishop,  with  white  locks  and  shaking  hands,  streaming  eyes,  and 
voice  trembling  with  emotion,  gave  them  his  parting  counsels  and 
tender  farewell — a  scene  was  represented  upon  which  angels 
might  gaze  with  rapture."  These  scenes  inspired  the  muse  of 
Mrs.  Sigourney,  who  was  present,  which  expressed  itself  in  these 
lines : 

"  They  clustered  round,  that  listening  throng, 
The  parting  hour  drew  nigh, 
And  heightened  feeling,  deep  and  strong. 
Spoke  forth  from  eye  to  eye. 

For  reverend  in  his  hoary  years 

A  white-robed  Prelate  bent. 
And  trembling  pathos  winged  his  words 

As  to  the  heart  they  went. 


CivOsiNG  Services.  209 

With  saintly  love  he  urged  the  crowd 

Salvation's  hope  to  gain, 
While  gathering  on  his  furrowed  cheeks 

The  tears  fell  down  like  rain. 

He  waved  his  hand,  and  music  woke 

A  warm  and  solemn  strain, 
His  favorite  hymn  swelled  high,  and  filled 

The  consecrated  fane. 

Then  from  the  hallowed  chancel  forth 

With  faltering  step  he  sped, 
And  fervent,  laid  a  Father's  hand 

On  every  priestly  head. 

And  breathed  the  blessing  of  his  God 

And  full  of  meekness  said, 
'  Be  faithful  in  your  Master's  w^rk 

When  your  old  Bishop's  dead. 

For  more  than  fifty  years,  my  sons, 

A  Saviour's  love  supreme 
Unto  a  sinful  world,  has  been 

My  unexhausted  theme. 

Now  see  the  blossoms  of  the  grave 

O'er  all  my  temples  spread, 
Oh,  lead  the  seeking  soul  to  Him 

When  your  old  Bishop's  dead.'  " 

L,ike  the  captive  children  of  Judah,  our  people  had  wept  over 
the  desolations  of  Zion  ;  and  so,  "  when  the  Lord  turned  again 
the  captivity  of  Zion,  they  were  like  them  that  dream,  their  mouths 
were  filled  with  the  laughter  and  their  tongues  with  singing, 
'  The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  we  are  glad.'  " 

The  Rev.  John  Martin,  of  the  class  of  1834,  grandfather  of  Rev. 
Douglass  Hooff,  now  of  Baltimore,  told  me  that  his  preaching- 
places  were  150  miles  apart.  He  was  then  in  Kanawha  county. 
How  he  accomplished  such  journeys  I  cannot  tell,  but  such  dis- 
tances kept  men  away  from  Convention. 

In  1839  the  meeting  was  in  the  borough  of  Norfolk,  as  it  was 
styled,  and  this  was  very  accessible.  I  remember  it  well,  as  it 
was  my  first  Convention.  All  of  us  went  down  together  with 
many  from  the  upper  counties,  a  boat  full  from  Alexandria,  and 
it  was  a  most  delightful  trip.  This  Convention  was  very  well  at- 
tended by  clergy  and  laity,  and  the  abounding  hospitality  of  Nor- 
folk, the  beautiful  Potomac  river  and  the  Bay,  the  strawberries 


2  ro  A  Norfolk  Convention. 

and  vegetables,  so  early,  it  seemed  to  me,  made  a  deep  impression. 
There  were  only  two  churches  then  in  Norfolk,  and  we  met  at 
Christ's  Church,  of  which  the  rector  was  Rev.  Martin  P.  Parks, 
a  most  eloquent  and  effective  preacher.  St.  James  Church,  Rich- 
mond, Rev.  Dr.  Empie  rector,  had  just  been  built,  and  was  that 
year  admitted  into  union  with  the  Convention.  So  also  was 
Roanoke  parish,  Halifax  county,  of  which  Rev.  John  T.  Clark 
was  the  founder  and  for  nearly  forty  years  the  rector.  Bishop 
Randolph  was  for  a  time  rector,  and  my  son  also  from  1880  to 
1887.  Dr.  Patrick  H.  Foster,  its  first  lay  delegate  in  1839,  died 
during  my  son's  charge  in  1881. 

A  number  of  visiting  clergy  were  present  in  Norfolk,  among 
them  Rev.  Richard  Newton,  of  Philadelphia,  the  great  preacher 
to  children.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon  Sunday  night.  Bishop 
Moore  arose  and  delivered  one  of  the  most  moving  addresses  I 
ever  heard,  closing  with  these  words  :  "  My  dear  children,  for 
fifty-two  years  I  have  been  preaching  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
I  have  sometimes  been  weary  of  my  labors,  but  I  never  wearied 
of  my  theme.  My  children,  preach  Christ  when  your  old  Bishop 
is  dead."  To  this.  Parks  in  audible  tones  said  Amen,  which  elec- 
trified the  whole  congregation.  "The  Voice  of  free  grace" 
was  then  sung  and  the  clergy  came  forward  to  receive  the  Bishop's 
blessing  and  farewell.  It  was  a  most  touching  scene.  Of  all  the 
delegates  then  present,  clerical  and  lay,  I  alone  remain.  Mr. 
Dana  and  I  stayed  at  Commodore  Stribling's  and  Mrs.  Foote 
and  the  two  Misses  Frobel  were  there,  too.  At  another  Conven- 
tion in  Norfolk  I  stayed  at  Mrs.  Walke's,  relative  of  Rev.  I^ewis 
Walke,  whose  relative  is  now  studying  for  the  ministry  at  our 
Seminary.  A  few  years  ago  Miss  Walke.  her  daughter,  sent  me 
word  that  she  remembered  my  visit  and  that  I  said,  "Don't  let 
her  have  her  own  way,"  and  she  said,  "  I  have  never  had  it." 

Commodore  Stribling  told  me  that  figs  grew  as  well  in  his 
yard  in  Norfolk  as  at  Smyrna.  The  fish  and  the  variety  and 
abundance  of  the  viands  were  a  wonder  to  me.  A  minister  in  his 
grace  at  table  used  to  specify  in  scriptural  terms  the  food  before 
him.  When  he  saw  for  the  first  time  some  clams  he  was  at  a  loss 
for  a  moment,  and  then  gave  thanks  for  "  the  treasures  hid  in  the 
sands."  I  do  not  know  what  he  would  have  said  at  a  Norfolk 
dinner. 

Bishop  Meade  visited  for  the  first  time,  in  1839,  the  town  of 
Danville,  accompanied  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Clark  and  Kinckle,  and 


Rev.  George  W.  Dame.  211 

for  two  days  they  held  frequent  services  and  administered  both 
sacraments.  "A  few  zealous  friends  of  the  Church  assured 
us,"  he  writes,  "that  a  church  would  soon  be  built  there,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Clark  offered  to  visit  there  once  a  month."  Rev.  Dr. 
George  W.  Dame  came  there  to  live  August  i,  1840,  the  church 
was  built  in  1843,  and  under  his  faithful,  untiring,  devoted  minis- 
try it  grew  until  in  1880  a  large  and  beautiful  new  church  was 
built.  His  work  of  filty-five  years  there  has  borne  precious  fruit, 
some  of  which  we  can  see,  while  much  of  it  is  unknown  ;  and  his 
three  sons,  graduates  of  our  Seminary,  are  handing  on  his  influ- 
ence in  widening  spheres. 

George  W.  Dame  came  to  Virginia  as  a  boy  and  became  an 
Episcopalian  through  his  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  Church 
h'istory.  Similar  was  the  experience  of  Dr.  Alfred  Edersheim, 
the  famous  scholar  and  writer.  Converted  from  Judaism  by  Pres- 
byterian missionaries  in  Vienna,  he  became  after  some  years  a 
member  of  the  Church  of  England  through  the  study  of  the  New 
Testament  and  ancient  authors. 

When  Mr.  Dame  went  to  Danville  about  1840  he  found  three 
members  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  was  made  principal  of  the 
town  school  and  began  his  cours  -,  most  remarkable  for  its  steady, 
untiring,  successful  labors.  The  Church  was  little  known  and 
greatly  hated,  and  in  spite  of  threats  and  oppositions  of  every 
sort,  he  planted  the  Church  in  four  counties,  and  sent  forth  from 
his  own  school  scores  of  young  women  to  be  centers  of  Christian 
and  Church  influence.  He  became  the  parson  of  the  whole  town, 
now  grown  to  be  a  city,  beloved  by  poor  and  rich,  honored  by  all 
who  knew  him,  and  as  he  went  about  doing  good  he  preached  the 
most  powerful  sermons  of  holiness  and  love.  Where  once  there 
was  no  other  rector  there  are  now  ten,  two  Church  schools,  and 
in  his  own  town  a  beautiful  church  and  two  mission  chapels. 

In  1840  the  Convention  met  in  Charlottesville,  and  among  the 
visitors  was  Rev.  Dr.  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  very  well  known  to  all, 
who  delighted  to  attend  the  Virginia  Conventions.  He  and  Dr. 
Keith,  as  they  journeyed  on  to  the  meeting,  held  services  at  va- 
rious places,  and  on  Sunday  afternoon  they  made  addresses  to  the 
students  at  the  University. 

Rev.  Martin  P.  Parks,  who  had  been  a  Methodist,  I  think, 
preached  the  great  sermon  of  the  Convention,  and  I  have  heard 
many,  long  years  after,  speak  (-f  its  eloquence  and  power.  Dr. 
Edward  C.   McGuire  was  so  moved  by  part  of  it  that  he  uncon- 


212  Speciai,  Services. 

sciously  rose  from  his  seat,  and  Dr.  Tyng  complimented  the  ser- 
mon most  highly.  He  said  something  like  this  in  the  sermon, 
that  "  if  a  minister  fell  from  the  pulpit  he  would  not  stop  short  of 
the  lowest  hell."  The  vestry  of  the  church  gave  notice  that  pro- 
vision had  been  made  for  the  horses  of  the  delegates.  Nearly  all 
drove  there  in  sulkies  or  buggies. 

At  this  Convention  Hugh  W.  Shefifey,  of  Staunton,  first  appeared 
as  a  delegate,  but  was  seldom  missing  thereafter  until  his  death, 
a  few  years  ago.  He  was  a  very  effective  speaker,  and  both  in 
our  Diocesan  and  General  Conventions  had  great  iniluence.  Dr. 
Dyer  writes  of  him  as,  in  1851,  one  of  the  notable  men  of  Virginia, 
and  heard  him  speak  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  in  Rich- 
mond. 

The  social  life  and  the  religious  meetings  at  the  Virginia  Con- 
ventions made  them  different  from  such  meetings  elsewhere.  The 
sessions  lasted  from  Wednesday  morning  to  Saturday  afternoon, 
whether  there  was  little  or  much  business  to  be  done.  Every  day 
a  recess  was  taken  for  service  and  sermon,  and  at  night  services 
were  held  in  behalf  of  various  objects,  when  laymen  also  would 
speak.  All  the  clergy,  I  think,  stayed  over  Sunday,  and  every 
church  building  in  the  town  was  occupied  by  some  clergyman  of 
our  Church. 

But  chief  of  these  services  were  the  early  morning  prayer- meet- 
ings. They  began  at  six  o'clock  or  later  on  at  seven  in  the  morn- 
ing. One  of  the  bishops  or  one  of  the  older  ministers  conducted 
the  service.  Several  clergymen  offered  prayers,  often  extem- 
pore, or  read  the  portions  of  Scripture,  then  two  addresses  were 
made  on  personal  religion,  and  hymns  were  sung,  in  all  lasting 
an  hour.  The  church  would  be  filled  and  a  deep  spiritual  interest 
prevailed.  Bishops  Moore  and  Meade  took  the  greatest  interest 
in  these  spiritual  exercises  of  the  Convention,  and  thought  a 
quickening  influence  was  thus  given  through  the  clergy  and  lay- 
men to  the  whole  Diocese.  In  the  evening  social  religious  meet- 
ings were  often  held  at  the  houses  of  laymen,  and  I  remember 
attending  one  at  Mr.  Tazewell  Taylor's  in  Norfolk. 

There  was  the  most  astonishing  hospitality  shown  at  these 
times ;  every  heart  and  home  was  open  to  all  who  came.  Not 
only  church-members  entertained  clergy  and  laity,  but  Presby- 
terians and  Methodists  and  Baptists  would  entertain  visitors — not 
merely  delegates,  but  others  who  from  interest  attended.  This 
was  necessary,  as  the  Convention  did  not  meet  only  in  the  few 


Effect  of  Convention.  213 

large  towns,  but  had  nine,  later  on  eleven,  places  of  meeting  in 
rotation,  some  of  them  very  small.  It  might  be  said  literally  that 
all  kept  open  house,  for  they  hardly  knew  how  many  would  be 
present  at  each  meal.  Each  one  was  free  to  go  where  he  pleased 
to  breakfast  or  to  dinner,  or  to  bring  a  friend  or  two  back  with 
him  to  a  meal,  and  notice  of  this  was  not  required  by  the  gener- 
ous entertainers. 

The  Sunday-morning  services  were  most  inspiring,  and  the 
churches  could  not  hold  all  who  wished  to  attend.  The  brethren 
seemed  loth  to  part  with  each  other  after  the  five  days  of  religious 
and  social  intercourse,  and  the  country  clergy  especially  went 
back  to  their  work  invigorated  and  encouraged. 

The  Conventions  then  were  not  mere  business  meetings,  at 
which  ministers  sometimes  seem  to  forget  their  mission,  but  a 
"time  of  refreshing  from  the  Lord."  The  bishops,  and  clergy, 
like  Messrs.  Cubbs,  Keith,  Parks,  Atkinson,  Andrews,  the  Jack- 
sons,  McGuires,  Jones,  and  many  others,  had  melted  their  subjects 
by  passing  them  through  their  own  hearts,  and  they  came  forth 
in  burning  words  from  lips  touched  with  "  a  coal  from  off  the 
altar."  In  all  the  preaching  Jesus  Christ  was  "lifted  up"  for 
the  worship  and  love  of  sinful  men.  Nor  did  these  services  end 
with  the  occasion  ;  the  support  of  the  Seminary,  and  Prayer-Book, 
Tract,  Education  and  Missionary  Societies  in  every  parish  ;  the 
enactment  of  canons  of  purer  discipline  and  the  purging  of 
Convention  of  non-communicants  and  of  the  communion  of 
unworthy  members  ;  vacant  parishes  filled  and  old  churches 
restored,  were  all  fruits  of  these  meetings. 

Bishop  Moore  wrote  to  Bishop  Ravenscroft,  of  North  Carolina, 
of  the  Convention  of  1827:  "Our  last  Convention  was  one  of  the 
most  interesting  I  ever  witnessed.  It  was  thought  there  were  at 
least  1,200  visitors — people  of  the  first  distinction.  It  would  give 
me  great  pleasure  to  see  you  at  our  next  in  Petersburg.  You 
once  delighted  to  be  with  us.  I  am  an  old  man,  not  far  from  that 
country  where  we  will  be  happy,  and  I  don't  see  why  the  Church 
below  should  not  taste  a  little  of  the  joy  we  hope  to  have  in  a  bet- 
ter world.  I  love  order  and  our  Liturgy  with  all  my  heart ;  but 
think  that  our  services,  instead  of  producing  formality,  are  calcu- 
lated to  make  us  rejoice  and  give  thanks." 

Our  minds  revert  to  those  days  and  to  those  men  who  lived 
near  to  God,  and  we  warm  our  hearts  by  recalling  them  when 
' '  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view. ' ' 

14 


214  The  Staunton  Convention. 

In  the  Convention  of  1841,  which  met  at  Alexandria,  there  was 
a  very  large  attendance  of  laymen,  and  among  them  were  several 
who  .'-oon  after  were  ordained — Charles  E.  Ambler,  C.  J.  Gibson, 
Milo  Mahan.  This  was  often  the  case.  One  strong  point  about 
the  Virginia  clergymen  was  that  they  not  only  came  as  all  the 
clergy  do,  from  laymen,  but  from  Virginia  laymen,  and  so  were 
"to  the  manner  born."  They  were  much  more  useful  to  the 
diocese  on  this  account.  In  some  dioceses  all  the  clergy  are 
importations,  and  often  from  very  diSerent  customs  and  ways. 
The  lay-delegates  to  our  Conventions  were  from  the  old  families — 
three  Nelsons,  three  I,ees  and  three  Williams  were  there  in  1841, 
with  two  Fairfaxes,  and  other  well-known  names.  An  important 
report  was  submitted  by  Bishop  Meade  from  the  Committee  on 
Religious  Instruction  of  Servants.  This  was  an  object  very  dear 
to  his  heart,  and  he  preached  to  them  and  labored  for  their  wel- 
fare continuously. 

At  the  Convention  of  1842,  which  met  in  Staunton,  though  I 
was  not  present,  certain  important  things  took  place,  which 
deserve  mention.  Bishop  Moore  had  died,  and  it  was  evident 
that  from  the  difficulties  of  travel  and  large  extent  of  territory 
one  bishop  could  not  do  the  work.  Rev.  Mr.  Christian  moved 
that  it  "is  the  sense  of  this  Convention  that  the  division  of  the 
diocese  would  greatly  promote  the  interests  of  the  Church 
therein,  and  that  a  committee  of  five  clergymen  and  three 
laymen  be  appointed  to  bring  in  a  bill  which  shall  divide  the 
diocese."  After  some  informal  talk  Mr.  Cassius  F.  Lee  moved 
to  lay  the  whole  subject  on  the  table  ;  which  was  done. 

Thus  ended  the  first  attempt  at  dividing  the  Diocese  of  Vir- 
ginia. Various  attempts  were  made  afterwards  at  intervals,  and 
not  till  fifty  years  after  was  old  Virginia  divided.  Bishop  Meade 
then  made  a  communication  to  the  Convention  a.sking  for  an 
Assistant  Bishop.  A  committee  reported  that  it  was  inexpedient 
to  divide  the  diocese,  and  it  was  moved  that  the  Convention  proceed 
to  the  election  of  an  Assistant  at  9  A.  M.  Saturday.  As  I  have 
said  before,  Dr.  John  Johns  was  elected  on  the  first  ballot. 
Staunton  was  a  good  place  for  electing  assistant  bishops,  for 
twenty-five  years  later,  in  1867,  Rev.  F.  M.  Whittle  was  elected 
Assistant  Bishop,  Dr.  lyippitt  was  to  nominate  Rev.  Mr.  Whittle, 
but  he  afterwards  voted  for  Dr.  Andrews.  Dr.  Sparrow  and  I 
were  for  Bishop  Whittle,  and  some  one  said  that  the  Seminary 
elected  him.     Dr.  Andrews  was  the  unanimous  choice  of  the 


JouRNKYs  TO  Convention.  215 

Valley  Convocation,  a  very  strong  body,  and  got  40  votes  on 
the  seventh  ballot.  The  laity  did  not  confirm  him.  This  was 
due,  it  is  said,  to  the  fact  that  the  West  Virginia  delegates,  who 
were  strong  Union  men,  voted  against  him.  There  was  much 
excitement  and  interest  felt  in  the  election,  and  on  the  ninth 
ballot,  when  Rev.  F.  M.  Whittle  was  nominated  by  the  clergy  to 
the  laity,  they  ratified  the  choice.  At  the  Convention  of  1877,  in 
Staunton,  West  Virginia  being  another  State,  was  set  apart  as  a 
diocese,  and  then  Mr.  Charles  M.  Blackford  moved  that  the 
Diocese  of  Virginia  be  divided  by  the  James  river.  This  motion 
was  lost,  but  at  last  the  division  was  about  on  the  same  lines. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  difficulty  of  getting  to  Convention,  so  I 
might  tell  how  we  sometimes  managed  it.  I  think  the  country 
clergy  generally  came  in  their  own  conveyances  even  one  hundred 
miles.  I  drove  in  my  own  carriage  to  Winchester,  taking  Cas- 
sius  F.  Lee  along  with  me.  In  1858  I  preached  the  Convention 
sermon  at  Winchester,  and,  strange  to  say,  that  very  sermon  was 
picked  up  by  some  one  during  the  war,  among  my  books  and  papers 
that  were  left  behind.  My  text  was  I.  Chron.  xii,  32.  Bishop 
Meade  followed  with  a  seasonable  address.  I  stayed  at  Dr.  Bald- 
win's and  was  given  a  room  by  myself— quite  an  honor  then,  as 
the  abounding  hospitality  could  not  find  rooms  enough  for  all ; 
sometimes  four  were  in  a  room.  My  daughter  stayed  there  too, 
in  a  room  with  four  other  girls,  and  she  said  it  was  hard  to  get 
any  sleep,  as  some  went  to  bed  late  and  some  got  up  at  dawn  to 
attend  the  early  services. 

There  were  two  Misses  Rogers  there,  one  of  whom  afterwards 
became  the  wife  of  Rev.  Ovid  A.  Kinsolving,  and  the  mother  of 
Revs.  Arthur  B.  and  Lucien  Lee  Kinsolving.  She  died  during 
the  war  in  Middleburg,  Virginia,  and  I  made  an  address  on  the 
occasion  of  her  death,  which  Rev.  Lucien  Kinsolving  told  me  he 
had  often  read,  as  it  was  about  his  mother.  Middleburg  was  at 
the  time  in  the  hands  of  the  Federal  soldiers,  and  I  remember 
how  they  watched  us  at  the  burial. 

I  went  to  the  Convention  in  Lynchburg  with  Rev.  Thomas  T. 
Castleman,  rector  at  Staunton,  who  was  my  warm  friend.  It  was 
over  sixty  miles  drive  from  Charlottesville  to  Lynchburg.  It  was 
the  middle  of  May,  when  Nature  had  thrown  oflF  her  veil  and 
shown  her  beautiful  face.  Castleman  drove  me  in  his  buggy  with 
a  very  fine  iron-gray  horse.  We  went  down  one  side  of  the 
mountains  and  came  back  on  the  other  side,     I  remember  where 


2i6  Convention  Incidents. 

the  James  river  goes  through  the  mountains,  how  beautiful  the 
scenery  was — equal,  I  think,  to  Harper's  Ferry.  Castleman  was 
a  cousin  of  Rev.  R.  A.  Castleman,  class  of  1852  (father  of  our  min- 
ister of  the  same  name),  who  married  Miss  Mary  M.  Lee,  daughter 
of  Rev.  William  F.  Lee,  founder  and  first  editor  of  the  Southern 
Churchman,  and  his  sad  and  untimely  death  shortly  after  the  war 
closed  a  useful  ministry.  Rev.  Thomas  Castleman  was  a  good 
preacher,  very  intimate  with  the  lawyers  of  Staunton,  with  whom 
he  used  to  joke,  I  remember,  and  who  enjoyed  his  preaching. 

My  first  visit  to  Richmond  was  in  1843,  when  I  attended  the 
Convention.  I  think  we  went  down  the  Potomac  to  Aquia  creek 
and  from  there  by  stage  to  Richmond.  Among  the  clergy  were 
four  who  were  to  be  bishops,  Thomas  Atkinson,  W.  H.  Cobbs 
and  the  two  Wilmers.  Four  of  the  McGuires  were  present  among 
the  clergy  and  were  for  a  number  of  years,  some  years  five  being 
present,  and  in  1838  four  Jacksons,  all  nearly  related. 

At  the  Convention  of  1845,  ^r.  William  M.  Blackford,  once  our 
Minister  to  Bogota,  was  elected  Secretary  of  the  Convention, 
which  position  he  held  until  1851,  when,  on  resigning,  the  thanks 
of  the  Convention  were  tendered  for  his  laborious  and  useful 
services,  and  Cassius  F.  Lee  was  elected  Secretary.  Mr.  Black- 
ford, who  was  a  very  cultivated  gentleman,  married  Miss  Minor, 
of  Fredericksburg,  sister  of  Launcelot  M.  Minor,  our  devoted 
missionary.  Mr.  Blackford  died  in  August,  1864,  in  Lynchburg, 
and  Mrs.  Blackford  in  September,  1896,  over  ninety  years  old. 
His  six  sons  have  been  well  known  in  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
three  of  them — L.  M.,  C.  M.,  and  Eugene — being  earnest  workers 
in  the  Church. 

At  a  Convention  in  Staunton  I  stayed  at  Dr.  Stribling's,  a  hospi- 
table home  which  sheltered  many  during  the  war,  and  a  lovely, 
pious  family,  who  now  have  their  reward,  I  trust.  I  remember 
walking  on  the  street  there  with  Rev.  Charles  H.  Page,  a  cousin 
of  my  wife,  and  I  felt  like  a  pigmy  beside  him — he  was  so  tall  and 
large.  He  was  a  pious  man,  and  never  sat  by  any  one  in  travel- 
ling without  talking  to  the  person  about  religion.  He  used  to 
question  the  young  ladies  where  he  was  visiting  as  to  whether 
they  had  read  their  Bibles  and  prayed  that  morning,  and  if  the 
answer  was  at  all  unsatisfactory  he  would  propose  and  insist  on 
going  through  some  religious  exercises  with  them  then  and  there. 
His  sister,  Mary  Anne,  married  Gen.  Roger  Jones,  another  cousin 
of  my  wife,  and  had  twelve  children,  some  of  whom  visit  me  now. 


The  Bruce  Fund.  217 

His  brother,  Richard  L.,  Captain  U.  S.  N.  and  Brigadier-General 
C.  S.  A.,  was  a  noble  man  well  known  in  Virginia,  and  an  old 
resident  of  Norfolk,  dying  in  1901. 

A  bright  incident  marked  the  year  1862,  darkened  with  the 
clouds  of  war  and  desolation.  Bishop  Johns  visited  Mr.  Charles 
Bruce  at  his  beautiful  home,  "  Staunton  Hill,"  on  the  Staunton 
river,  Charlotte  county,  and  Mr.  Bruce  asked  him  to  receive  and 
use  for  destitute  churches  of  the  diocese  the  munificent  legacy  of 
his  mother,  Mrs.  Elvira  Cabell  Bruce.  The  daughter  of  Col. 
William  Cabell,  Jr.,  of  Nelson  county,  she  married  Jirsf  Patrick 
Henry,  Jr.,  eldest  son  of  the  great  orator,  and  second,  James  Bruce, 
Esq.  She  was  a  most  liberal  supporter  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  her  lifetime,  and  left  at  her  death  a  conditional  bequest ;  so  it 
was  also  an  honorable  boon,  as  Bishop  Johns  says,  "from  the 
heirs  at  law,  who  though  under  no  legal  obligation  to  comply 
with  this  provision  of  the  will,  promptly,  and  of  their  own  accord, 
executed  it  as  really  valid."  To  Mr.  Charles  Bruce,  as  executor, 
it  was  chiefly  owing  that  this  bequest  was  realized,  and  not  being 
himself  attached  to  the  Episcopal  Church,  it  was  more  praise- 
worthy that  it  should  have  been  so  done.  He  owned  a  large 
plantation ;  and  the  house,  the  stables  and  all  the  appoint- 
ments were  very  handsome ;  situated  on  the  hills  overlooking 
the  rich  bottom  lands  of  the  Staunton,  than  which  there  are 
no  better  in  any  land,  with  its  many  miles  of  beautiful 
drives,  its  generous  hospitality  and  cultivated  home  circle,  it  is 
worthy  of  mention.  Mr.  Charles  Bruce  died  at  his  home  in  the 
fall  of  1896  ;  a  man  of  influence  and  character,  his  loss  was  sorely 
felt  in  his  county. 

Rev.T.  Grayson  Dashiell,  of  the  class  of  1854,  was  elected  Sec- 
retary of  the  Convention  in  1863,  and  was  for  about  thirty  years  a 
most  popular  and  efl&cient  one.  His  clear,  ringing  voice,  so  nec- 
essary for  such  a  position,  was  easily  heard  by  all,  and  his  long 
and  accurate  acquaintance  with  persons  and  affairs  made  him 
most  useful.  Few  have  held  such  an  office  so  long.  He  was  of  a 
lovely  character  and  disposition,  an  able  and  earnest  preacher,  and 
a  man  greatly  beloved  by  all  who  knew  him.  He  built  up  St. 
Mark's  Church  in  Richmond,  and  took  an  active  part  in  all  dioc- 
esan work,  being  a  valuable  helper  to  the  Bishop,  and  by  his  pure 
and  holy  life  and  fervent  zeal  he  has  won  a  good  degree.  He 
died  in  Panama,  while  off  on  a  visit  for  his  health,  about  1893. 
His  two  wives  were  both  daughters  of  Doctor  Sparrow. 


2i8  General  Convention. 

Many  interesting  and  valuable  memories  hang  about  the  Vir- 
ginia Conventions,  and  would  form  a  valuable  part  of  the  unwrit- 
ten history  of  those  days.  Bishop  Meade's  addresses  were  often 
pastoral  charges  on  the  errors  of  the  time  or  the  truths  needing  to 
be  enforced,  or  historical  memorials,  and  Bishop  Johns'  sermons 
were  helpful  and  inspiring.  Dr.  Sparrow  and  Dr.  Norton  had 
great  weight  in  the  Convention,  though  I  never  heard  a  long 
speech  from  either  one.  Small  points  of  order  were  not  made,  and 
the  discussion,  though  sometimes  very  spirited,  as,  for  example, 
on  the  subject  of  disciplinary  canons  on  amusements,  was  never 
heated  or  bitter.  One  of  the  greatest  discussions  was  on  that  sub- 
ject, and  later,  in  1879,  at  Fredericksburg,  on  the  introduction  of 
flowers  and  altar-cloths  for  the  different  seasons,  which  had  been 
prohibited  by  Bishop  Whittle.  The  Bishop  was  strongly  sus- 
tained in  his  position,  and  the  growing  practice  was  discontinued. 

In  connection  with  the  Virginia  Conventions  I  might  speak  of 
some  General  Conventions  that  I  attended.  I  was  at  the  General 
Convention  of  1838  in  Philadelphia,  and  stayed  at  the  same  house 
with  Rev.  Aldert  Smedes,  of  Schenectady,  who  was  on  his  way 
to  North  Carolina  to  see  about  starting  a  Church  School  for  Girls 
in  Raleigh,  North  Carolina.  This  he  soon  afterwards  did,  and  as 
St.  Mary's,  and  carried  on  by  the  son  of  its  founder,  it  has  been 
known  to  the  Church  most  favorably  for  more  than  fifty  years.  It 
has  done  much  for  the  Church  in  the  South  by  training  and  send- 
ing forth  Christian  women  into  her  homes.  His  brother,  very 
much  younger  than  himself,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  E.  C.  Smedes,  is  an  hon- 
ored clergyman  of  Washington. 

Bishop  Griswold,  who  ordained  me,  presided,  and  Bishop 
Meade  preached  the  opening  sermon  :  I  had  many  acquaintances 
among  the  Clerical  Deputies.  Revs.  Edward  C.  McGuire,  N.  H. 
Cobbs,  M.  P.  Parks  and  Alexander  Jones  represented  Virginia, 
and  Drs.  Wyatt  and  Johns  were  leaders  from  Maryland,  Dr.  Wy- 
att  being  President  of  the  House  of  Deputies  for  many  years,  and 
for  fifty  years  Rector  of  St.  Paul's,  Baltimore.  Of  the  Clerical 
Deputies  to  that  Convention,  only  one,  I  believe,  is  now  living, 
Rev.  J.  ly.  McKim,  of  Delaware. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Anthon  was  Secretary  of  the  House,  and  I 
knew  him  quite  well.  His  son  afterwards  attended  this  Seminary. 
It  was,  compared  with  the  Convention  now,  a  small  body — sixteen 
bishops,  seventy-five  clerical  and  sixty  lay  delegates  ;  but  this 
was  an  enormous   increase   over   that   early  meeting,  when  the 


Dr.  Francis  h.  Hawks.  219 

House  of  Bishops  met  in  a  room  in  St.  Paul's  Rectory,  Baltimore  ; 
or  the  one  that  met  in  New  Haven  a  year  before  my  birth  with 
only  two  bishops  present.  That  same  year  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  America  was  declared  to  be  the  Church  formerly 
known  as  the  Church  of  England  in  America.  The  Constitution 
was  then  being  amended  and  occupied  much  time.  This  sentence 
has  a  familiar  sound  now.  The  surplice  was  recommended  for 
use,  and  ministers  were  requested  to  wear  one,  and  the  vestries 
to  supply  them  with  surplices.  The  resolution  was  laid  on  the 
table.  At  the  Convention  of  1838  I  saw  Mrs.  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton shown  to  the  front  seat,  which  had  been  reserved  for  her. 
She  was  then  over  ninety  years  of  age. 

The  General  Convention  of  1844,  in  Philadelphia,  was  a  remark- 
able one  and  the  great  interest  centered  in  the  case  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Francis  L,.  Hawks,  who  had  been  elected  Bishop  of  Mississippi, 
and  whose  testimonials  were  to  be  signed  by  the  Deputies.  I 
knew  Dr.  Hawks  by  reputation  well,  and  heard  him  preach 
some  great  sermons.  There  have  been  many  greater  in  particu- 
lar branches,  and  who  have  attained  greater  prominence,  but  in 
force  of  character  and  influence  over  others  in  his  Church  few 
have  stood  higher.  He  was  just  the  age  of  my  eldest  brother, 
who,  however,  outlived  him  twenty  years.  A  native  of  North 
Carolina,  in  a  family  of  six  or  eight  sons,  three  of  whom  be- 
came clergymen,  he  received  his  training  and  education  in  that 
State  to  which  his  name  has  added  lustre.  His  grandfather  had 
come  from  England  with  Governor  Tryon,  so  well  known  in  North 
Carolina  colonial  history,  and  his  ancestry  was  English-Irish  ;  his 
mother  was  a  woman  of  strong  character.  Graduating  at  the 
University,  and  becoming  a  communicant  when  only  seventeen, 
he  showed  his  piety  by  becoming  a  lay  reader.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  bar,  and,  young  as  he  was,  had  a  great  reputation,  being 
elected  to  the  lyCgislature  and  much  admired  as  an  orator,  the 
court-house  being  crowded  when  he  was  to  speak.  He  gave  up 
a  growing  practice  to  study  for  the  ministry,  to  which  he  was 
first  inclined,  and  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Ravenscroft  in  1827, 
the  same  year  as  Bishops  Whittingham  and  Horatio  Potter.  He 
went  to  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  as  Assistant  to  Dr.  Henry 
Crosdale,  and  his  reputation  as  a  preacher  there  was  very  great 
with  the  students  of  Yale  College.  In  1829  he  became  Bishop 
White's  Assistant  at  St.  James',  Philadelphia  ;  a  year  later  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity   at   Washington    (now   Trinity)  College.     In 


220  Dr.  Hawks'  Eloquence. 

1 83 1  he  went  to  New  York  city  and  was  rector  for  a  short  time 
of  St.  Stephen's,  Bishop  Moore's  old  church,  then  of  St.  Thomas' 
until  1843.  Crowds  flocked  to  hear  him  and  the  church  had  to 
be  enlarged,  and  he  occupied  other  important  positions  also.  In 
1835  he  was  chosen  Bishop  of  the  Southwestern  Diocese,  but 
declined  for  want  of  a  certain  support  for  his  family,  and  Bishop 
Polk  was  selected  instead  He  was  appointed  Conservator  of  Books 
and  Documents  of  the  Church,  and  in  1836  went  to  England,  where 
he  spent  two  thousand  dollars,  mostly  given  by  Trinity  church, 
New  York,  in  having  documents  about  the  early  Church  in 
America  copied,  making  eighteen  folio  volumes.  These  he  did 
not  live  to  publish,  but  they  were  finally  issued  in  fine  large 
quarto  volumes  by  his  co-laborer.  Bishop  William  S.  Perry,  He 
published  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Virginia,  which  contains 
a  reprint  of  the  Convention  Journals  to  1835,  a  like  volume 
(Journals  omitted)  on  Maryland,  two  volumes  on  North  Carolina, 
and  a  pamphlet  on  South  Carolina.  The  sale  was  small  or  more 
might  have  been  published. 

In  1839  he  began  a  school,  called  after  his  church,  St.  Thomas' 
Hall,  at  Flushing,  I,ong  Island,  the  house  being  like  a  bee-hive, 
with  only  one  entrance.  I^arge  sums  were  contributed,  many 
scholars  came,  immense  sums  were  spent,  and  for  a  time  all  went 
well.  In  the  crash  of  1843  all  came  tumbling  down,  and  the 
debts  of  himself  and  the  school  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  dollars,  it  was  said.  His  reputation  was  injured, 
though  none  doubted  his  honesty  of  purpose.  His  family  was 
thought  to  be  an  extravagant  one.  He  resigned  St.  Thomas  and 
removed  to  Holly  Springs,  Mississippi.  In  1844  he  was  elected 
Bishop  of  that  Diocese  by  their  Convention,  and  so  became  before 
the  General  Convention  for  confirmation.  Thereupon  Dr.  Muhl- 
enberg and  others  opposed  his  confirmation  on  the  ground  that 
he  was  so  heavily  in  debt,  and  therefore  not  of  good  report.  This 
caused  at  first  a  great  deal  of  feeling  against  Dr.  Muhlenberg. 
The  matter  was  brought  up  in  several  ways,  and  at  last  Dr. 
Hawks  desired  to  make  his  defence,  and  I  suppose  it  was  the 
ablest  and  most  powerful  personal  defence  ever  made  before  any 
body.  It  reminds  me  of  Sheridan's  famous  speech  in  the  trial  of 
Warren  Hastings.  The  church  with  its  galleries  was  crowded  to 
overflowing.  The  interest  in  the  speech  increased  as  he  advanced. 
There  was  the  profoundest  silence  and  the  most  intense  interest 
on  the  part  of  every   one  present.     He  took  up  all  the  specifica- 


Dr.  Hawks'  Dei^Ens^.  221 

tions  of  his  bankruptcy  one  by  one,  and  without  denying  the 
facts  most  ingeniously  and  satisfactorily  explained  them.  Every 
aspect  of  the  subject  was  presented  in  the  most  luminous  order,  in 
the  clearest  statement ;  and  strong  argument,  great  pathos,  beau- 
tiful diction  and  perfect  elocution  combined  to  give  effect  to  every 
sentence.  Such  a  scene  was  never  witnessed  by  any  Church  Con- 
vention, before  or  since,  as  I  saw  that  day  in  St.  Andrew's,  Phila- 
delphia, and  when  he  closed  with  his  appeal  to  the  Convention, 
saying  "  It  rests  with  you,  whether,  when  I  go  home  this  day 
and  my  boy  climbs  upon  my  knee,  I  shall  have  to  say  to  him, 
'  Your  father  is  a  dishonored  man,'  "  the  whole  audience  seemed 
to  be  weeping,  and  in  the  galleries  crowded  with  ladies  were  seen 
many  handkerchiefs  fluttering,  and  sobs  were  heard.  To  quote 
Macaulay,  "The  ladies  in  the  galleries,  unaccustomed  to  such 
displays  of  eloquence,  excited  by  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion 
and  perhaps  not  unwilling  to  display  their  taste  and  sensibility, 
were  in  a  state  of  uncontrollable  emotion." 

Judge  Berrien,  member  of  Congress  from  Georgia,  wept  like  a 
child,  and  said  that  the  Convention  must  be  satisfied  with  the 
clear  explanation  which  Dr.  Hawks  had  given,  and  offered  such 
a  resolution,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Strong,  of  Massachusetts,  moved  that 
they  should  at  once  proceed  to  sign  his  testimonials  that  night. 
Judge  Ezekiel  Chambers,  of  Maryland,  a  man  of  great  weight  in 
the  Convention,  and  eminent  for  his  ability,  then  arose  and  moved 
that  the  Convention  adiourn,  as  they  were  not  in  a  condition  to  act 
calmly  upon  the  case  after  such  a  brilliant  speech,  and  the  motion 
was  carried.  The  next  morning  the  whole  question  was  unani- 
mously referred  back  to  the  Diocese  of  Mississippi,  which  expressed 
its  entire  confidence  in  Dr.  Hawks  by  re-electing  him  ;  but  he 
declined.  A  resolution  also  was  passed  by  the  General  Conven- 
tion exonerating  him  from  the  charges  brought  against  him  by 
the  memorials  presented  to  the  House,  the  vote  being  reached 
shortly  before  twelve  o'clock  one  night,  and  none  voting  in  the 
negative. 

It  is  certain  that  he  was  not  wilfully  dishonest,  but  he  was  care- 
less and  extravagant,  perhaps,  and  these  caused  him  bitter  trouble. 
Some  brother  minister  tried  to  comfort  him  when  in  his  troubles  by 
saying  that  God  cared  even  for  the  sparrows,  and  not  one  of  them 
could  fall  without  his  knowledge.  "Ah,"  said  he,  "  but  nothing 
is  said  about  Hawks." 

Several  dramatic  incidents  occurred  in  the  speeches.     Rev.  Dr. 


222  Dr.  Hawks'  Career. 

Mead,  of  Connecticut,  who  had  been  a  friend  of  Dr.  Hawks  and  a 
guest  at  his  house,  felt  constrained  to  repeat  what  Dr.  Hawks  had 
said  to  him,  showing  his  high  temper,  and  said,  "Sooner  than 
put  my  hand  to  sign  the  testimonials,  I  would  lay  it  on  the  block 
and  have  it  cut  off,  and  holding  up  the  bloody  stump  I  would  implore 
all  to  pause  and  not  sign  the  documents."  Dr.  Hawks,  in  his 
reply  to  this,  said  :  "If  the  path  to  the  House  of  Bishops  was  to  be 
through  such  a  fiery  ordeal,  few,  very  few,  would  dare  to  attempt 
its  passage.  Ten  thousand  mitres  were  no  recompense  for  such 
agony  as  he  had  endured.  The  Episcopate  of  Mississippi  stood 
with  him  but  as  the  dust  in  the  balance  ;  he  wanted  the  verdict 
as  to  his  being  a  dishonest  man."  Dr.  Mead  referred  to  the  sur- 
pliced  choristers  at  St.  Thomas'  Hall,  the  only  instance  of  this 
use  of  the  surplice  he  had  known.  Dr.  Hawks  replied  that  he  did 
not  favor  the  recent  innovations,  but  was  for  adhering  to  old 
things,  even  to  the  cut  of  a  pair  of  bands  and  the  shape  of  a 
surplice. 

For  five  years  he  was  rector  of  Christ  Church,  New  Orleans, 
and  first  President  of  the  University  of  Louisiana  ;  then  he  moved 
to  New  York  where  he  had  the  Church  of  the  Mediator,  after- 
wards merged  into  Calvary  Church.  There  being  a  debt  on  it, 
his  friends  raised  $30,000  to  clear  it.  In  1852  he  was  elected 
Bishop  of  Rhode  Island  but  declined.  At  the  time  of  the  war  his 
ardent  Southern  sympathies  brought  about  a  little  friction,  and 
and  in  1862  he  resigned  and  came  to  Christ  Church,  Baltimore, 
where  he  stayed  three  years.  Rev.  Dr.  Fuller,  the  great  Baptist 
preacher  in  Baltimore,  punning  on  his  name  once  asked  him  what 
was  the  difference  between  owls  and  hawks.  He  replied  :  "  Well, 
Fuller,  I  can  give  you  a  simple  answer.  Owls  are  fuller  about  the 
head, /w//'^  about  the  body,  znA  fuller  all  over."  Whenever  he 
preached  in  New  York,  Baltimore,  Washington  or  New  Orleans, 
he  drew  immense  congregations.  His  reading  of  the  service, 
especially  the  Bible,  was  regarded  as  unequalled,  and  the  tones  of 
his  voice  as  he  read  Isaiah,  "  They  shall  hunger  710  more'''  &c., 
still  linger  in  my  ears  as  most  beautiful  and  moving.  The  full, 
rich  tones,  the  distinct  articulation,  the  perfect  modulation,  the 
melody  and  power  of  his  voice,  was  beyond  that  of  any  preacher 
I  ever  heard.  I  heard  him  at  General  Convention  on  the  text 
"  Come  unto  Me,"  a  great  sermon  ;  and  I  drove  Dr.  Sparrow  in 
my  carriage  to  Washington  to  hear  him  preach  at  Trinity  Church 
on  "Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's  and  unto 


Deputies  in  1844.  223 

God  the  things  that  are  God's."  It  was  a  grand  sermon,  and 
President  Pierce,  many  Senators  and  Congressmen  and  eminent 
persons  were  there.  He  taught  Senators  wisdom,  and  they  cer- 
tainly had  set  before  them  that  day  their  duty,  both  to  God  and 
to  man. 

Dr.  Hawks  was  a  man  of  untiring  industry  and  wrote  many 
books.  He  was  one  of  the  best  of  talkers  and  a  man  of  great  versa- 
tility. Dr.  Milo  Mahan,  when  a  teacher  in  Dr.  Muhlenberg's 
school  in  Flushing,  having  heard  a  very  eloquent  address  from 
Dr.  Hawks  on  Homer,  showed  him  a  difficult  passage  and  asked 
for  his  explanation,  but  he  was  unable  to  give  it,  not  being  as 
exact  a  scholar  as  Mahan.  Dr.  Hawks  was  a  High-Churchman 
of  the  school  of  Ravenscroft  and  Hobart.  No  life  of  him  has  ever 
been  written,  and  I  wonder  at  it  in  these  days  of  biographies. 
Rev.  C.  S.  Hawks,  his  brother,  was  confirmed  as  Bishop  of  Mis- 
souri at  this  session  of  1844. 

There  was  a  remarkably  able  set  of  Deputies — clerical  and  lay — 
at  this  Convention.  Rev.  Drs.  Empie,  McGuire,  Sparrow  and 
Grammer,  Messrs.  S.  H.  I^ewis,  Philip  Williams,  R.  H.  Cunning- 
ham and  Wm.  H.  McFarland,  were  from  Virginia.  Dr.  Kmpie 
made  several  long  speeches  against  Tractarianism,  and  he  had 
fifty-five  heads  under  which  that  teaching  was  condemned.  Dr. 
Tyng  and  many  other  eminent  men,  clerical  and  lay,  spoke  on  the 
subject  and  it  occupied  a  great  deal  of  time,  but  no  positive 
action  was  taken. 

Judge  Chambers'  resolution  was  passed  that  the  Prayer  Book 
contains  the  sense  of  the  Church  as  to  essential  doctrines,  and 
that  the  General  Convention  is  not  a  suitable  tribunal  for  the  trial 
and  censure  ot  doctrinal  error,  and  that  the  Church  is  not  respon- 
sible f  :)r  the  errors  of  individuals.  Much  consideration  was  given 
to  the  subject  of  Foreign  Missions  at  this  meeting,  and  Rev. 
William  J.  Boone  was  chosen  as  Missionary  Bishop  of  China. 
Action  was  p  >stponed  in  the  case  of  bishops  for  the  west  coast  of 
Africa  and  Turkey,  though  Rev.  Horatio  Southgate  was  nomi- 
nated for  Turkey. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  clergymen  and  speakers  was  Rev 
Thomas  Atkinson,  of  Maryland,  then  regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest 
ministers  and  preachers,  and  later  the  beloved  Bishop  of  North 
Carolina.  Ten  of  the  clergymen  present  soon  afterwards  were 
chosen  bishops.  Of  all  the  Clerical  Deputies  at  that  Convention 
only  two  are  now  living,  both  of  whom  I  happened  to  know. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

SOME  OLD  FRIENDS. 

AMONG  my  older  friends  were  three  of  the  class  of  1832,  all 
living  beyond  threescore  years,  and  having  each  held  in  his 
ministry  but  one  cure,  the  Rev.  George  Adie,  William  Friend, 
and  Hugh  J.  Harrison,  an  example  of  devotion  to  one  people 
and  contentment  with  their  lot  very  rare. 

The  Rev.  William  Friend  was  most  highly  cultured,  not  only  in 
theology,  but  in  the  classics  and  other  learning,  and  doubtless  to 
his  intellectual  as  well  as  to  his  moral  and  personal  worth  was  his 
lasting  influence  due.  His  sermons  were  models  of  force  and 
elegance,  for  he  had  "the  pen  of  a  ready  writer."  A  native  of 
Massachusetts,  he  made  Virginia  the  home  of  his  affection  and 
life-work.  He  married  late  in  life,  and  during  his  bachelor  days 
a  ladies'  society  sent  him  a  dozen  shirts.  He  thanked  them,  and 
wrote  that  "the  stream  of  their  liberality  could  not  have  flowed 
into  a  more  thirsty  channel." 

The  Rev.  George  Adie  was  a  model  pastor,  with  strong  influ- 
ence on  all,  and  dying  where  he  had  long  lived,  in  Ivcesburg. 

Rev.  Hugh  T.  Harrison  was  a  very  learned  man,  especially  in 
theology  and  exegesis.  He  was  an  expert  linguist.  His  son, 
Rev.  Dr.  Hall  Harrison,  was  like  him  in  these  respects,  and  for 
years  had  the  same  parish,  though  having  in  the  General  Church 
a  reputation  and  influence  far  wider,  and  his  sudden  death  re- 
moved from  the  Church  one  of  her  most  useful  and  gifted  sons. 
Rev.  Charles  W.  Andrews,  D.  D.,  was  ordained  at  the  same  time, 
though  not  an  alumnus  of  our  Seminary,  and  spent  his  whole  life 
in  Virginia,  honored  by  the  Church  and  wielding  a  powerful  influ- 
ence. He  received  a  large  vote  for  Assistant  Bishop  of  Virginia. 
His  life  has  been  written  by  Dr.  Walker.  He  and  Charles  E.  Am- 
bler were  good  friends,  and  this  story  is  told  :  Dr.  Andrews  had 
a  way  of  saying  to  the  sick  or  old,  "  Well,  soon  you'll  be  walking 
the  golden  streets  and  will  leave  this  world  of  toil  and  trouble." 
It  did  not  always  comfort  or  brighten  them.  When  he  was  taken 
sick  once  Mr.  Ambler  went  to  see  him,  and  with  very  serious  face 
said  to  him,  "  Brother,  soon  you  will  be  leaving  the  troubles  and 

224 


Class  of  1837.  225 

pains  of  this  world  and  be  walking  the  goldten  streets  above." 
Dr.  A.  became  quite  excited,  and  said,  "  Not  at  all ;  I'll  be  well 
soon.  Why  do  you  talk  to  me  in  this  way  !  This  is  a  pretty  way 
to  cheer  a  sick  man."  "Well,"  said  Mr.  Ambler,  "that  is  some 
of  your  own  medicine.     You  talk  in  that  way  to  others." 

Rev.  Richard  K.  Meade,  son  of  Bishop  Meade,  born  the  same 
year  as  I,  passed  away  November  17,  1892.  He  was  Rector  of 
Christ  Church,  Charlottesville,  from  1836  to  1868,  his  only  charge, 
when  ill  health  caused  him  to  resign.  For  many  years  he  was 
principal  of  the  Piedmont  Female  Seminary.  A  man  of  fine  intel- 
lect, a  good  scholar  and  preacher,  he  was  a  worthy  son  of  the 
great  Bishop.  His  two  sons.  Rev.  W.  H.  Meade,  D.  D.,  and  Rev. 
Frank  A.  Meade,  have  labored  in  their  native  State  successfully. 

In  the  class  of  1837  were  many  good  friends  of  mine.  Rev.  Up- 
ton Beall  was  a  very  earnest  and  pious  man,  and  an  excellent 
preacher.  I  remember  hearing  him  preach  at  St.  John's,  Wash- 
ington, "The  fathers  where  are  they  and  the  prophets,  do  they  live 
forever,"  a  funeral  discourse.  Bishop  Johns  preached  a  funeral 
sermon  on  his  death.  Rev.  William  Bryant,  father  of  Mr. 
Herbert  Bryant,  of  Alexandria,  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  a 
soldierly  man,  as  erect  as  if  he  had  swallowed  a  sword,  upright 
in  every  sense  of  the  word. 

Rev.  William  A.  Harris  was  sent  to  us  by  Bishop  Otey  for 
whom  he  had  unbounded  admiration.  He  was  a  successful  min- 
ister and  was  long  in  Washington.  Rev.  Charles  Goodrich  was 
very  prominent  in  New  Orleans  during  the  war.  General  B.  F. 
Butler  was  very  civil  to  him,  and  told  him  his  family  were  Epis- 
copalians, and  he  contributed  largely  to  the  Church.  It  was  the 
custom  for  one  of  the  senior  class  to  make  an  address,  which  was 
replied  to  by  one  of  the  middle  class.  Goodrich  made  the  parting 
address  that  year.  The  Rev.  William  Hodges,  though  of  Bap- 
tist training,  became  an  Episcopalian  and  wrote  the  best  book  on 
Infant  Baptism  that  we  have.  He  was  most  useful  and  earnest. 
Rev.  John  Towles  was  a  most  worthy  man,  whose  ministry  was 
spent  chiefly  at  Accokeek,  Maryland.  Rev.  William  J.  Clark 
taught  at  the  Carters  on  Shooter's  Hill.  He  was  at  Snow  Hill, 
Maryland,  and  had  some  great  church  controversy,  dying  not 
many  years  ago. 

Rev.  Joshua  Peterkin,  D.  D.,  was  nearly  two  years  younger 
than  myself,  but  we  were  friends  from  my  coming  to  the  Semi- 
nary in  1836,  where  he  was  a  student,  till  the  close  of  Ms  life, 


226  Dr.  Joshua  Peterkin. 

March  7,  1892.  In  all  that  time  I  can  recall  nothing  but  what  was 
lovely  and  of  good  report  in  thought,  word  and  deed  in  his  life. 
Joshua  Peterkin  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  August, 
1 8 14,  and  was  educated  at  a  classical  school,  which,  however,  he 
left  when  fifteen  years  old,  and  for  four  years  he  was  in  business. 
While  thus  engaged  he  attended  Dr.  John  Johns'  church,  and 
often  visited  him  for  counsel.  Bishop  Johns  used  often  to  describe 
the  winter  night  when,  after  hearing  him  preach,  young  Peter- 
kin came  to  him  about  his  soul.  After  that  sermon  he  felt  "  If 
what  Dr.  Johns  says  is  so,  I  am  in  a  very  bad  way,  and  must 
turn,  and  my  whole  life  and  aims  must  be  changed  ;  "  so  he  went 
directly  and  opened  his  heart  to  him.  His  appearance  as  he 
entered  the  library  was  most  attractive,  his  face  flushed  with 
excitement,  his  eyes  clear  and  shining,  and  his  hair  sprinkled 
with  snow  which  had  fallen  on  it  without  his  notice,  and  that 
night's  talk  was  like  that  of  Christ  and  Nicodemus — one  never 
to  be  forgotten,  since  eternal  interests  depended  on  it.  The 
friendship  thus  early  begun  lasted  through  their  life  and  has 
doubtless  now  been  renewed  never  again  to  be  broken. 

Dr.  Peterkin  entered  the  Seminary  September,  1834,  and  grad- 
uated in  1837,  was  ordained  Deacon  that  July  and  Priest  in  July, 
1839,  by  Bishop  Moore  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Alexandria.  As  a 
Deacon  he  labored  in  Baltimore  for  the  colored  people  and  for  a 
white  congregation  at  St.  Andrew's,  which  had  no  means  to  pay 
a  salary.  He  was  rector  of  All  Saints'  parish,  Frederick,  Md., 
for  six  years,  and  of  Zion  parish,  near  by,  for  two  years.  Then 
he  took  charge  of  Wickliffe  parish,  Clarke  county,  Va.,  the  first 
as  he  says,  that  he  accepted  voluntarily,  where  he  felt  as  if  his 
ministry  really  began.  There  he  stayed  for  three  years  and  for 
a  like  period  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey.  Dr.  Hodge  told  me  that 
while  at  Princeton  the  students  said  he  had  sat  up  all  night  to 
nurse  a  sick  chicken.  I  told  this  to  Dr.  Peterkin  and  he  said 
that  the  foundation  for  it  was  that  one  cold  night  he  had  put  a 
sick  chicken  in  his  room  near  the  stove,  and  the  heat  made  it  so 
lively  that  it  broke  his  sleep.  Dr.  Hodge  said  that  the  students 
liked  his  preaching  very  much,  that  it  was  quite  different  from 
the  others,  interesting  in  matter  and  manner.  He  was  sent 
for  to  bury  a  Presbyterian  minister  instead  of  one  of  their  own 
ministers.  In  1855  he  became  rector  of  St.  James',  Richmond, 
where  he  exercised  a  most  useful  and  beautiful  ministry   for 


Dr.  Pkterkin's  Ministry.  227 

thirtj'-seven  years.  To  know  him  was  to  love  him,  and  his  pres- 
ence brought  peace  and  blessing  with  it.  His  name  was  honored 
throughout  the  whole  city,  and  Christians  of  every  denomination 
admired  and  loved  him. 

He  had  a  fine  gift  of  extemporaneous  speech,  so  that  he  was 
most  acceptable  both  as  a  preacher  and  a  pastor.  His  first  ser- 
mon at  Falls  Church  showed  his  remarkable  fluency.  Some,  it 
is  said,  heel  it,  and  some  head  it  in  a  parish  ;  he  did  both  well, 
and  hundreds  have  risen  up  to  bless  his  ministry.  He  improved 
every  opportunity  of  doing  good.  Once  when  my  parlor  was  full 
of  young  people  at  Commencement,  he  read  in  a  most  impressive 
way  a  little  poem  on  judging  others,  beginning  "Judge  not." 
He  had  cut  it  from  a  paper.  His  tact  and  sympathy  made  all  his 
approaches  welcome,  and  the  young  loved  him.  Goldsmith's 
beautiful  words  seem  written  for  him  : 

"  But  in  his  duty  prompt  at  every  call 

He  watch'd  and  wept,  he  pray'd  and  felt  for  all ; 
And  as  a  bird  each  fond  endearment  tries. 
To  tempt  its  new-fledged  oflFspring  to  the  skies, 
He  tried  each  art,  reproved  each  dull  delay, 
Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way. 
Beside  the  bed  where  parting  life  was  laid, 
And  sorrow,  guilt  and  pain  by  turns  dismay'd, 
******** 

Comfort  came  down  the  trembling  wretch  to  raise, 
And  his  last  faltering  accents  whispered  praise." 

During  the  war  his  house  was  a  home  for  any  Confederate 
soldier  who  needed  it,  and  my  son  Walter  found  a  welcome  there 
and  was  tenderly  cared  for.  He  would  visit  the  hospitals  and 
would  take  tobacco  with  him,  for,  though  he  did  not  use  it  him- 
self, he  knew  how  much  a  soldier  liked  it. 

My  relations  with  him  were  always  most  cordial,  and  I  do  not 
think  I  had  a  truer  friend.  As  a  trustee  of  the  Seminary  he 
was  faithful  and  devoted,  and  in  the  General  Convention,  of 
which  he  was  a  member  for  some  sessions,  his  influence  was 
felt. 

His  wife  was  Miss  Elizabeth  Hanson,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Hanson,  of  Frederick,  Maryland,  and  his  lovely  daughter,  Re- 
becca, has  left  behind  her  a  memory  fragrant  with  noble  deeds, 

which 

"  Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust." 


228  Bishop  George  W.  Peterkin. 

His  son,  George  W.  Peterkin,  Bishop  of  West  Virginia,  I  have 
known  since  his  boyhood  days  at  the  Episcopal  High  School,  and 
the  promise  of  his  boyhood  has  been  fulfilled  in  a  noble,  conse- 
crated manhood.  His  worth  is  known  to  all  the  Church,  and 
distant  Brazil,  the  youngest  mission  of  our  Church,  has  received 
the  benefit  of  his  wise  oversight  and  labors. 

One  of  our  purest  bishops,  a  contemporary  and  life-long  friend 
of  Dr.  Peterkin,  said  :  "  I  am  good  sometimes,  but  Joshua  is  good 
all  the  time.  I  don't  see  how  he  keeps  it  up."  Surely  nothing 
more  need  be  said.  These  lines,  the  authorship  of  which  I  do 
not  know,  seem  to  sum  his  life-story. 

"A  name  above  reproach,  a  life  as  clean 

As  uutrod  snow  ;  a  great  heart  undefiled 

By  so  much  as  a  thought  not  reconciled 
Unto  the  law  of  Christ.     No  cloud  between 
Him  and  his  God  ;  no  halting  soul  to  wean 

From  things  of  earth.     Calm  as  a  little  child 
To  whom  fear  is  unknown,  he  walks  serene. 
A  soldier  of  the  cross,  he  wears  the  sign 

Of  outward  grace  upon  a  steadfast  brow. 
Within  his  breast  pure  love  of  the  Divine 

Seals  his  allegiance  to  a  soldier's  vow. 
Armed  with  the  shield  of  Faith,  no  fiery  dart 
Can  pierce  the  stronghold  of  his  loyal  heart." 

John  G.  Maxwell,  of  the  class  of  1838,  was  a  very  worthy, 
excellent  man,  and  the  only  one  I  know  who  read  his  own  obitu- 
ary. He  was  very  sick,  and  was  reported  dead,  and  Dr.  Coleman 
(father,  I  think,  of  Bishop  Coleman,)  editor  of  the  Banjier  of  the 
Cross,  published  his  obituary  with  complimentary  remarks.  He 
got  well. 

In  our  Catalogue  we  have  published  the  names  of  men  with  a 
star  to  indicate  that  they  shine  in  another  firmament,  who  came 
to  Commencement  afterwards  and  reported  themselves  alive. 
Such  was  the  case  with  Thompson  I,.  Smith. 

When  I  sent  blanks  out  about  1880  to  alumni  to  be  filled  in, 
one  question  was  If  deceased,  time  and  place  of  death.  Phillips 
Brooks  wrote  in  that  place  ' '  Still  alive. ' ' 

One  of  our  students,  on  returning  from  a  visit  home,  said  he 
had  been  *'  visiting  his  nativity."     Another,  a  very  pious  fellow. 


Stories  about  Students.  229 

who  had  never  read  a  novel,  was  lay-reading  one  summer.  Re- 
turning from  church  one  day,  he  sat  in  the  parlor  and  picking 
up  Adam  Bede  began  to  read.  His  hostess  came  in  after  awhile 
and  found  him   absorbed  in   it.     She  was  shocked  at  a  minister 

reading  novels  on  Sunday,  but  only  said,  "  Mr.  ,  that  is  an 

interesting  novel."  "  Novel,  ma'am  !  "  he  replied,  "  I  thought 
it  was  the  life  of  the  venerable  Bede,"  and  he  dropped  it  as  if  it 
were  a  coal  of  fire. 

The  students  always  had  mission  stations  at  different  points 
about  the  neighborhood,  as  far  as  ten  miles.  S.  B.  Dairy mple 
and  others  went  to  I^ebanon.  I  was  called  there  to  see  a  sick 
man,  dying  of  consumption.  I  found  him  perfectly  peaceful,  and 
he  said  it  was  owing  to  the  services  and  the  words  of  the  young 
men. 

I  used  to  visit  an  old  woman  near  Falls  Church,  where  Francis 
Scott  Key  used  to  exhort,  named  Mrs.  Hopkins.  She  was  over 
ninety  when  she  died,  and  remembered  the  kiln  where  the  bricks 
for  Falls  Church  were  made,  and  had  played  in  it  as  a  child.  It 
has  been  said  of  that  and  many  other  churches  that  the  bricks 
were  brought  from  England.  It  was  not  .so  in  that  case,  and  I 
think  not  in  most  others,  as  brick-makers  came  over  with  the  early 
colonists.  They  made  bricks  different  from  those  now  made,  and 
used  a  different  soil,  it  appears.  Mrs.  Hopkins  had  been  a  Meth- 
odist, and  she  told  me  that  she  was  brought  into  the  Episcopal 
Church  by  the  text  "Yet  show  I  unto  you  a  more  excellent 
way,"  which  she  thought  was  Episcopacy. 

The  examining  chaplains  used  to  have  many  stories  about  the 
answers  they  would  sometimes  get.  Trying  to  get  a  man's  idea 
about  baptism,  they  put  the  question  in  a  concrete  way.  "  Sup- 
pose you  were  to  meet  with  a  Baptist  who  asked  you  about  im- 
mersion ;  how  would  you  answer  him  ?  "  "  Doctor,  I  hope  there 
won't  be  a  Baptist  within  twenty  miles  of  me,"  was  the  reply. 

Ministers,  I  fear,  make  mistakes  sometimes  from  every  good 
motives.  One  of  our  clergy,  himself  a  most  pious  man,  son  of  a 
minister  and  brought  up  very  strictly,  found  that  his  predecessor 
had  been  very  severe  on  dancing  and  card-playing.  He  took  oc- 
casion, therefore,  to  say  in  his  sermon  that  dancing  and  card- 
playing  were  too  much  condemned,  and  spoke  a  good  word  for 
them.  His  people  at  once  began  to  get  up  card  clubs  and  danc- 
ing parties,  much  to  his  disgust,  and  went  to  extremes  in  them, 
There  was  no  need  for  him  to  have  said  anything, 
15 


230  Bedell  and  Claxton. 

One  of  our  students  started  to  raise  the  tune  when  there  was  a 
small  congregation.     The  hymn  was, 

"  O  let  triumphant  faith  dispel 

The  fears  of  guilt  and  woe  ; 
If  God  be  for  us,  God  the  Lord, 

Who,  who  shall  be  our  foe  ?  " 

The  last  line  is,  "Omnipotent  to  save."  By  some  mistake, 
the  hymn,  which  is  C.  M.,  was  marked  long  metre  in  his  book, 
and  he  started  it  long  metre.  Of  course,  in  the  last  lines  there 
were  two  feet  too  little,  and  he  repeated  them  over  but  the  effect 
was  very  trying,  as,  being  somewhat  deaf,  he  was  singing  all 
alone  without  knowing  it.  When  he  repeated,  W/w,  who,  who, 
who  shall  be  our  foe,  it  sounded  like  the  hooting  of  an  owl,  and 
when  he  came  to  the  last  line  Omnip-nip-nip-potent  to  save,  it  was 
difficult  to  keep  still. 

R.  B.  Claxton  and  Gregory  T.  Bedell  (afterwards  Bishop)  were 
classmates,  (1840),  and  rivals  in  class  standing.  Claxton  I  knew 
like  a  book  ;  he  had  superior  gifts  and  did  well  in  his  studies  ; 
he  had  been  well  trained  and  was  ambitious.  He  was  professor 
in  the  Philadelphia  Divinity  School. 

Bishop  Bedell  always  appreciated  this  Seminary.  He  wrote 
me  "  I  look  back  with  enjoyment  to  the  days  when  you  were  my 
young  professor  and  I  was  a  young  scholar.  Those  days  have 
never  lost  their  beauty  in  my  eyes,  nor  have  I  ever  ceased  to  be 
grateful  for  the  sound  and  patient  instruction  given  me. ' '  Again, 
in  1886,  he  wrote,  "  Can  it  be  that  fifty  years  have  passed  since 
you  took  part  in  the  noble  work  of  our  dear  old  Seminary,  and 
first  attempted  to  make  of  me  a  Hebrew  scholar  ?  Alas  !  It  has 
been  '  Bereshith  '  with  me  ever  since.  I  have  never  got  much 
further  than  '  in  the  beginning.  '  I  remember  that  you  used  to 
tempt  us  and  excite  our  enthusiasm  by  assuring  us  that  Hebrew 
was  the  language  spoken  in  heaven.  It  may  be  so,  but  Claxton 
and  I — you  remember  him,  don't  you  !  good  fellow,  he  has  been 
there  for  years — when  we  got  out  of  the  class-room  used  to  say, 
how  does  he  know  ?  and  then  the  old  Hebrew  resumed  its  mun- 
dane aspect.  But  these  efforts  were  the  least  of  that  continual 
example  of  patience  and  lovingkindness,  that  constant  exhibition 
of  Christian  virtue  and  those  wonderful  exhibitions  of  truths  in 
your  department  for  which  I  have  been  ever  grateful.  ' ' 

Bishop  Bedell  was  very  diligent  in  his  studies — ^methodical  and 


Earnest   and  Rooker.  231 

earnest — lovely  in  character  ;  he  took  infinite  pains  in  all  he  did. 
He  made  himself  a  most  acceptable  preacher,  and  I  have  often 
quoted  him  as  an  example  of  one  who  doubled  and  multiplied  his 
talents.  He  always  did  his  best.  Once  in  preaching  on  Jonah 
and  acting  the  scene  out,  he  exclaimed  "Ho,  there,  any  ship 
bound  for  Tarshish  ? ' '  Another  alumnus,  whose  name  was  Peter, 
quoting  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  exclaimed,  "  Hurrah  for  Peter  !  " 
"  Hurrah  for  Paul!" 

I  remember  perfectly  Joseph  Earnest  (1841),  a  middle-aged 
man  when  he  came,  having  been  a  lawyer.  It  is  curious  how 
the  countenances  of  some  students  will  rise  up  before  me  and  I 
cannot  recall  the  faces  of  others.  His  face  was  furrowed,  but  the 
expression  was  very  earnest  and  strong.  He  was  at  Laurel,  Mary- 
land. Rev.  Malcolm  McFarland,  of  the  same  class,  was  bred  to  the 
law  ;  he  entered  the  Seminary  in  mature  life  and  exercised  his 
ministry  in  Maryland.  He  left  the  professors  $50  each,  the 
only  student  that  ever  did  so.  He  fell  dead  whilst  officiating  at 
the  Holy  Communion,  and  was  buried  beneath  the  chancel. 

Rev.  William  Y.  Rooker  (1841)  had  wonderful  power  in  the 
pulpit,  and  his  ministry  in  Virginia  was  of  the  nature  of  a  strange 
phenomenon,  like  a  comet.  Many  of  the  most  careless  were 
aroused  by  his  almost  appalling  preaching,  and  his  ministry  was 
blessed  of  God  to  many  souls.  I  never  knew  exactly  what  to 
make  of  him,  or  in  what  his  extraordinary  power  consisted. 
He  had  the  fiercest  look  of  any  man  I  ever  saw,  and,  like  the 
Ancient  Mariner,  he  held  men  with  his  glittering  eye.  It  was 
the  eye  of  the  lynx  and  the  hawk  combined,  and  people  who 
came  into  church  never  took  their  eyes  off  him.  He  was  a  great 
disciple  of  Dr.  Stephen  H.  Tyng  and  preached  the  terrors  of  the 
law  ;  retribution  was  his  theme  most  often.  Rev.  William  F. 
Lockwood,  my  dear  and  valued  friend  for  many  years,  had  a 
parish  in  Fauquier  county  and  wished  Rooker  to  help  him  in 
a  rousing  Association.  This  he  would  only  consent  to  do  on 
condition  that  Lockwood  would  come  for  him  in  his  buggy  all  the 
way  to  Winchester  and  back.  This  he  did,  and  I  was  at  the 
Association  with  them.  When  at  the  Seminary,  Rooker  was 
very  fond  of  going  over  to  Rev.  Lemuel  Wilmer's,  who  was 
rector  of  Port  Tobacco  parish  for  forty-seven  years,  and  of  ex- 
horting in  his  prayer-meetings.  He  once  borrowed  Dr.  Keith's 
hoTSte,  a  fine  traveller,  but  raw-boned,  with  a  "  lean  and  hungry 


232  Association  Seirvices. 

look,"  and  rode  him  over.  He  stopped  at  many  places,  and 
everywhere,  looking  at  the  horse  they  felt  that  he  needed  a 
feed,  Mr.  Rooker  not  saying  anything  about  it.  The  horse  died 
on  that  trip  from  too  much  feeding,  and  it  was  found  that  he 
had  eaten  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  ears  of  new  corn  in  one 
day.  So  it  was  told  me.  I  stayed  with  Rooker  at  Winchester 
at  Convention,  and  he  was  afterwards  in  Kentucky.  I  have  a 
sermon  of  his,  preached  in  lyouisville  and  published  by  the 
Vestry.  He  went  to  England  afterwards,  where  he  was  in 
charge  of  a  proprietary  chapel,  as  curate  to  his  brother,  a  clergy- 
man of  the  Church  of  England,  and  died  about  1870. 

These  religious  meetings,  which  were  often  held  in  Virginia, 
did  much  good.  They  were  held  in  a  parish,  generally  in  the 
summer,  and  sometimes  half  a  dozen  ministers  would  be  present 
and  take  their  turns  in  preaching  and  visiting.  Great  good  was 
done,  and  the  social  religious  intercourse  was  helpful.  There 
were  often  genuine  revivals  of  religion  in  a  parish,  and  sometimes 
the  whole  neighborhood  would  be  aroused,  the  church  would  be 
thronged  and  many  were  converted.  The  new  life  of  a  parish 
began  with  some  of  these  meetings,  and  old  men  are  living  now 
who  owe  their  change  of  heart  to  those  services.  I  often  went 
on  such  visits — sometimes  with  Bishop  Meade  and  another  min- 
ister. Bishop  Richard  Wihner  has  given  a  striking  account  of  one 
that  was  held  in  Fluvanna  county  when  he  was  a  young  minister, 
when  the  Holy  Spirit  was  manifestly  working  in  the  whole  com- 
munity. 

William  F.  lyockwood,  (1842),  was  a  very  earnest,  sincere,  de- 
voted man,  very  practical  and  useful.  While  here  he  was  man- 
ager and  provider  at  the  Seminary.  He  had  the  church  at  Fair- 
fax Court  House  and  Falls  Church,  and  was  for  many  years  rector 
of  St.  Thomas',  Garrison  Forest,  Maryland,  where  I  often  visited 
him.     There  at  one  time  he  had  a  small  school. 

Speaking  of  him  reminds  me  of  others  of  his  class.  Samuel 
Hazlehurst,  of  a  good  old  Pennsylvania  family,  I  remember  as  a 
very  sympathetic  man,  who  interested  himself  in  the  poor  and 
afflicted  in  the  neighborhood,  visiting  and  helping  them.  A 
negro  man  was  to  be  hanged  at  Fairfax  Court  House,  very  un- 
justly, it  was  thought.  He  took  Dr.  L,ippitt  and  myself  and 
others  up  at  various  times  to  visit  him.     I  was  pleased  when  he 


Class  op  1842.  233 

told  me  he  thought  I  spoke  so  that  the  man  could  understand. 
He  went  as  a  missionary  to  Africa,  and  on  his  return  brought 
back  a  very  bad-smelling  ram's  horn,  which  the  Greboes  had 
worshipped, 

Edward  B.  McGuire  was  very  much  like  his  father  in  person 
and  character  as  in  name.  He  had  charge  of  small  country  par- 
ishes, but  was  a  man  of  piety  and  ability. 

Joshua  Morsell  was  a  very  pleasant,  genial  man,  of  the  old 
Maryland  family  ;  of  his  uncle  James  I  have  spoken.  He  was 
in  charge  of  St.  James'  parish,  Anne  Arundel  county,  for  many 
years,  and  married  old  Mr.  Chesley's  daughter,  Jane.  Once  Dr. 
Sparrow  was  visiting  there  and  preached  on  the  text  ' '  How  old 
art  thou  ?  "  So  earnest  and  impressive  was  he  that  young  Nat 
Chesley  said,  after  coming  out,  "  When  Dr.  Sparrow  said  that 
and  looked  at  me  I  came  near  getting  up  and  saying,  '  Just 
twenty-one.'"  Mr.  Morsell  was  later  at  Navy- Yard,  Washing- 
ton, and  then  in  New  Jersey,  and  he  was  made  a  D.  D.  and  sent 
to  General  Convention.  He  would  say  whatever  came  in  his 
mind,  and  sometimes  did  himself  injustice. 

One  of  our  alumni  hearing  of  a  vacancy  at  Elk  Ridge  said  to 
one  of  his  vestrymen,  "  Doctor  you  have  influence  at  Elk  Ridge. 
I  wish  you  would  get  me  called  there. ' '     The  Doctor  replied, 

"Mr. ,  I  don't  think  it  would  suit  j^ou  ;  they  are  higher 

Church  than  we  are  here."  "Oh,  that  doesn't  matter;  I  can 
suit  myself  to  them."  The  Doctor  rejoined,  "But  they  don't 
pay  as  much  salary  as  here."  "  Well,  that's  a  horse  of  a  differ- 
ent color  ;  I  don't  care  to  go." 

Nicholas  P.  Tillinghast  was  a  very  superior,  accomplished  man; 
very  courteous,  and  of  a  distinguished  family.  He  lost  his 
leg  while  he  was  in  Georgetown  in  a  strange  way.  Some  ladies 
he  knew  were  in  the  cars  and  he  was  outside  talking  to  them. 
Somehow  he  was  caught  and  dragged  under  and  his  leg  had  to 
be  cut  off  high  up.  His  nerves  were  very  much  affected.  His  sister 
married  a  Willing. 

Edward  T.  Walker,  of  Charleston,  son  of  Rev.  Joseph  Walker, 
so  well  known  in  the  Church,  and  brother  of  Bruce  Walker,  was 
a  very  fine  man. 

In  the  class  of  1843  I  knew  well  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  A. 
L,eakin,  who  has  been  nearly  sixty  years  in  the  ministry,  and  has 
comforted  many  with  the  hopes  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.     The 


234  W.  H.  Pendleton.     Class  of  1844. 

only  other  survivor  is  the  Rev.  John  B.  Richmond,  who  has  been 
' '  a  brother  beloved  ' '  by  me. 

One  member  of  this  class,  preaching  at  Fairfax  Court  House, 
stayed  at  Mr.  Rumsey's  and  on  Monday  morning  when  leaving 
handed  Mrs.  R.  a  half  dollar  for  his  board,  which  gave  offense. 
He  sent  his  sweetheart  a  bag  of  sweet  potatoes  while  he  was 
courting  her. 

The  Rev.  William  H.  Pendleton  was  also  a  member  of  this 
class.  Though  deprived  of  many  advantages  of  a  thorough  col- 
legiate training,  Mr.  Pendleton,  by  conscientious  study,  and  the 
faithful  cultivation  of  the  excellent  talents  which  God  had  given 
him,  became  one  of  the  most  accurate  thinkers  and  best  preachers 
in  the  diocese  in  which  he  was  born  and  labored  and  died.  For 
clearness  of  thought  and  distinctness  of  expression,  amongst  the 
men  of  his  standing,  he  had  no  superior.  Ambitious  to  do  his 
Master's  work,  of  singularly  confiding  character,  he  was  only 
anxious  to  discharge  his  duty,  and  do  it  at  his  best.  When  his 
health,  long  impaired,  but  never  inclining  him  to  take  repose 
until  he  could  work  no  more,  compelled  him  to  relinquish  his 
parish  work,  with  strange  calmness  and  deliberation  he  provided 
for  his  family  a  residence,  and  for  himself  a  home,  in  which  to 
die.  It  was  in  the  parish  in  which  he  had  first  opened  his 
mouth  as  a  minister  of  Christ.  Thence,  in  abundant  measure 
enjoying  that  peace  which  passeth  knowledge,  he  went  home 
calmly,  without  distraction,  full  of  hope  and  joy  when  his  chang- 
ing came.  He  said  death  was  just  like  passing  from  one  room 
to  another.  William  H.  Pendleton,  the  simple,  honest,  earnest 
child  of  God,  in  manhood  fulfilled  amply  the  promise  of  his  youth. 

In  the  class  of  1844  were  many  whom  I  loved  for  their  virtues. 
Rev.  Andrew  Fisher,  uncle  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Walker,  spent  his  life  in 
his  native  State  of  Virginia,  a  true  and  godly  man.  Rev. 
Lewis  Walke  was  a  close  friend  of  Bishop  Whittle  and  son  of 
my  friend  ;  Dr.  George  D.  Wildes  was  long  the  able  secretary  of 
the  Church  Congress.  Edward  W.  Syle,  an  Englishman, 
came  from  Gambler,  through  Bishop  Mcllvaine's  influence  ;  he 
married  Miss  Hannah  Washington,  went  to  China,  as  did  Rev. 
Henry  W.Woods  ( 1 844) ,  and  then  was  a  missionary  to  the  Chinese 
in  California. 

Henry  M.  Dennison  was  a  lovely  man  and  an  able,  strong 
preacher.      I   remember    his  first    sermon    in   Christ  Church, 


CI.ASS   OP    1845.  235 

Alexandria,  and  how  he  said  that  the  lowest  depth  of  hell  was 
reserved  for  Judas  Iscariot.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Presi- 
dent Tyler,  and  his  daughter  married  Rev.  James  H.  Wil- 
liams, class  of  1868.  Dennison  went  to  South  Carolina  and  died 
there  of  break-bone  fever,  after  ministering  nobly  to  the  sick  and 
dying.  Dennison' s  saying  above  reminds  of  what  Dr.  E.  A. 
Parks  once  said,  "  It  is  difficult  to  stand  in  the  pulpit,  and  it  is 
damnation  to  fall  from  it. ' ' 

I  recall  the  members  of  the  class  of  1845  distinctly.  Rev. 
Francis  M.  Baker  had  Grace  Church,  Richmond,  where  I  once 
preached  for  him.  Rev.  G.  S.  Carraway  was  a  very  worthy 
man,  who  lived  long  ;  he  sent  money  to  the  Seminary. 

Rev.  William  Duval  has  had  his  life  written  by  Dr.  Walker. 
He  records  in  his  diary,  "  Took  tea  at  Dr.  Packard's  with  some 
ladies;  spent  an  unprofitable  evening."  He  started  the  ring- 
ing of  the  ten  o'clock  bell  at  night,  I  think,  as  a  sort  of  "taps," 
in  soldiers'  vocabulary. 

Rev.  Albert  W.  Duy  was  a  man  of  wonderful  genius  whose 
early  death  was  a  great  loss  to  the  world. 

Rev.  Dr.  Daniel  Henshaw,  now  living,  son  of  Bishop  Henshaw, 
who  took  such  interest  in  our  Seminary  and  always  befriended 
it,  wrote  me  the  very  kind  letter  below.  He  has  served  the 
Church  most  faithfully  and  successfully. 

' '  I  remember  my  connection  with  the  Seminary  with  a  great 
deal  of  interest.  Among  those  recollections  is  the  great  pleasure 
it  always  gave  me  to  see  Professor  Packard  go  into  the  chapel 
pulpit.  There  was  no  preacher  from  whose  sermons  I  derived 
so  much  benefit  as  from  yours.  If  I  honored  the  Seminary  for 
no  other  reason  the  Thursday  evening  Faculty  meetings  would 
make  me  hold  it  in  the  highest  regard.  More  than  thirty  years 
which  have  passed  since  I  was  a  student  under  your  tuition  have 
served  to  confirm  the  high  opinion  I  formed  of  some  of  the  pecu- 
liar advantages  of  my  theological  alma  mater." 

Rev.  Dr.  W.  C.  Meredith  was  an  able  and  interesting  man. 
His  brother  lived  in  California  and  was  out  riding  with  the 
brother  of  his  sweetheart  when  they  were  surrounded  by  Indians. 
He  put  the  boy  on  his  horse  and  sent  him  off,  and  though  cap- 
tured he  afterwards  got  free.  He  had  a  valuable  mine  out  there 
which  was  sold  for  $90,000  and  his  brothers  got  $25,000  apiece  ; 
its  next  sale  was  for  $250,000.    Rev.  Dr.  Edmund  C.  Murdaugh, 


236  Dr.  SamukIv  Ridout. 

whose  brother  was  a  prominent  layman  in  Norfolk,  was  related  to 
Mrs.  I^ear,  and  was  a  courteous  gentleman  whose  ministry  was 
much  blessed.  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Nelson,  when  missionary  to 
China,  told  me  his  long  beard  gained  him  great  respect.  He  had 
the  sterling  virtues  of  his  noble  family. 

Dr.  Samuel  Ridout  was  four  years  younger  than  myself  to  a  day, 
and  I  have  a  distinct  and  tender  memory  of  him.  He  was  of  French 
Huguenot  descent,  and  his  family  had  always  held  honorable  place 
in  Maryland.  Educated  at  St.  John's  College,  he  graduated  in  med- 
icine and  began  its  practice.  A  severe  sickness  turned  his  thoughts 
to  the  ministry  as  a  sphere  where  he  could  better  serve  his  Lord. 
He  entered  our  Seminary  in  1842,  and  during  his  three  years'  stay 
he  practiced  without  charge  among  the  students,  professors  and 
the  poor  of  the  neighborhood.  He  was,  I  think,  the  handsomest 
man  ever  here.  I  remember  well  how  he  looked  sixty  years 
ago  ;  his  countenance  ruddy  like  David's,  his  features  bright 
with  the  love  and  purity  that  marked  his  character  ;  to  see  him 
was  to  feel  that  he  was  one  whom  you  must  love  and  trust.  He 
had  a  genius  for  making  and  keeping  friends,  and  there  was  no 
one  within  my  recollection  for  whom  I  entertained  a  warmer 
affection.  He  loved  everybody  and  everybody  loved  him.  His 
ministry  of  forty  years,  closing  September  8,  1885,  was  marked 
every  day  by  deeds  of  love  and  helpful  ministry.  After  ordina- 
tion Bishop  Whittingham  allowed  and  advised  his  practising 
medicine,  for  he  was  an  able  physician.  For  ten  years,  1859  to 
1869,  he  labored  in  Albemarle  county,  and  the  rest  of  his  minis- 
try was  in  his  native  State  and  county.  He  married,  in  1853, 
Hester  Ann,  eldest  daughter  of  Thomas  Chase,  Esq. ,  of  Annapolis, 
a  happy  union,  in  which  his  widow  survived  him.  She  left  the 
handsome  old  Chase  house  in  Annapolis,  with  its  rare  old  china 
and  furniture,  to  the  Diocese  of  Maryland  as  a  home  for  aged  and 
indigent  ladies,  and  it  has  been  lately  opened  for  inmates. 

Dr.  Ridout's  whole  life  was  a  powerful  sermon,  convincing 
men  of  the  power  of  religion,  as  they  saw  it  elevate  and  beautify 
his  life,  and  attracting  them  by  its  charming  characteristics.  He 
and  his  friend.  Bishop  H.  C.  Eay,  a  strong  preacher  and  a  lovely 
Christian  character,  passed  from  earth  only  a  few  days  apart. 

One  of  our  students  had  a  sweetheart  in  Eeesburg,  and  he 
walked  up  there  to  see  her,  thirty-five  miles.  Another  went  to 
Chautilly,  visiting  some  ladies,  and  Cleveland  hired  him  an  old 


George  H.  Norton.  237 

broken-down  mare  with  her  colt  running  along,  so  that  he  did 
not  cut  a  very  romantic  figure.  The  same  man  once  drove  my 
horse  and  carriage  into  Alexandria  to  meet  me  at  the  train.  I 
saw  no  one  when  I  got  off ;  after  a  little  I  found  him,  looking 
very  downcast,  and  found  that  my  horse  had  been  scared  by  the 
train  and  had  run  away  and  broken  my  carriage. 

Miss  Dobson,  our  first  matron,  was  once  congratulated  by  a 
friend  on  having  such  a  pleasant  life  and  associating  with  such 
holy  men.  She  said  very  calmly,  "  There  is  a  great  deal  of  mor- 
tality even  among  theological  students." 

George  H.  Norton,  D.  D.,  of  theclassof  1846,  son  of  Rev.  G.  H. 
Norton,  is  a  name  very  dear  to  me  and  the  many  friends  who 
knew  him.  In  his  class  were  many  well-known  men  ;  six  out  of 
the  fifteen  are  now  living  after  fifty-six  years  in  the  ministry — 
Rev.  Drs.  J.  M.  Banister,  George  H.  Clark,  A.  A.  Marple,  T.  L. 
Smith,  and  my  good  friend  D.  Francis  Sprigg,  editor  for  so  many 
years  of  the  Southern  Churchman.  Dr.  Norton  studied  law  before 
he  entered  the  ministry,  and  from  nature  and  training  had  a  strong 
mind  and  a  sound  judgment.  He  had  a  parish  in  Columbus, 
Ohio,  and  in  Warrenton,  Virginia,  and  for  many  years  was 
rector  of  St.  Paul's,  Alexandria. 

In  Warrenton  he  did  a  noble  work,  building  a  new  church 
there  and  firmly  establishing  its  influence.  Previously  there  had 
been  only  one  service  a  month,  in  the  afternoon,  but  he  concen- 
trated his  labor  on  Warrenton  with  the  most  happy  results.  He 
married  Miss  Claudia  Marshall,  of  Fauquier  county,  who  sur- 
vived him  only  three  years. 

As  a  preacher  he  stood  high,  for  his  matter  was  always  weighty 
and  interesting,  his  style  terse  and  clear,  and  he  preached  with- 
out manuscript ;  and  his  people  never  wished  to  hear  any  one 
else.  In  all  conventions  he  had  great  weight,  though  he  did  not 
speak  often.  He  declined  a  professorship  at  the  Seminary,  after 
Dr.  Sparrow's  death,  and  would  not  allow  his  name  to  be  used 
for  Assistant  Bishop  of  Virginia  in  1883. 

I  will  add  here  what  I  wrote  at  the  time  of  his  death.  I 
remember  him  as  he  entered  our  Seminary,  a  young  man  of  quiet, 
modest  bearing,  but  of  marked  ability  and  devoted  character. 
His  thirst  for  knowledge  was  remarkable,  and  what  is  true  of 
those  "  who  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness  "  is  true  also 
of  those  who  thirst  after  knowledge,  "  they  shall  be  filled,"  as 


238  George  H.  Norton. 

was  shown  in  his  case.  He  was  always  a  student,  and  while 
most  ministers  are  content  with  the  simple  truths  of  Christianity, 
he  went  down  to  the  foundations  of  the  faith.  Hence  when  the 
modern  attacks  upon  Christianity  were  made  he  read  them  all, 
but  his  faith  was  never  shaken,  like  that  of  some  others,  for  he 
knew  it  to  be  founded  upon  an  impregnable  rock.  He  was  like 
a  man  who,  when  told  that  the  foundation  of  his  house  was  in 
danger,  should  call  for  the  key  of  the  vault,  light  a  candle,  walk 
down  and  deliberately  pass  through  the  arches.  Having  satisfied 
himself  that  the  foundation  was  perfectly  safe,  he  would  come  up 
again,  lock  the  door,  hang  up  the  key  and  quietly  go  about  his 
work,  saying,  "  They  may  raise  an  alarm,  but  I  find  hi^L,  is  SAFE." 

He  represented  our  Diocese  in  the  General  Convention  for 
thirty  years  with  great  ability.  Rev.  Dr.  Washburn  told  me  that 
his  reply  to  Dr.  DeKoven  was  "  admirable." 

As  a  preacher,  he  was  always  faithful  to  the  gospel,  and  strong, 
clear  and  ever  fresh  in  his  presentation  of  it  for  the  practical 
needs  of  men.  His  lips,  like  those  of  the  ideal  priest  in  Scrip- 
ture, kept  knowledge,  and  as  he  so  clearly  communicated  it  to 
his  people,  ' '  they  were  very  attentive  to  hear  him. ' '  His  loss,  in 
this  respect,  was  reflected  on  with  a  feeling  peculiar  to  the  event, 
never  experienced  before,  nor  to  be  generally  expected.  Taken 
away  while  in  the  full  possession  and  activity  of  all  his  faculties, 
his  people  had  a  sense  of  privation  partaking  of  desolateness. 
An  animating  influence  that  pervaded  and  enlarged  and  raised 
their  minds  was  extinct  in  one  sense,  but  in  reality  whatever  we 
have  admired  and  loved  in  him  remains  and  will  remain  forever 
and  forever. 

As  a  pastor,  he  was  tender,  sympathetic  and  true  ;  he  loved 
his  people  and  was  beloved  by  them,  and  his  words  were  helpful 
and  comforting  beyond  measure.  For  one-third  of  a  century  he 
went  in  and  out  among  them,  as  a  wise  counsellor  and  true  friend, 
and  his  death  was  mourned  by  all  of  every  creed  who  ever  knew 
him.  For  the  same  long  period  he  was  a  trustee  of  this  Semi- 
nary, and  his  wisdom,  breadth  and  clear  judgment  in  all  matters 
gave  him  a  powerful  influence  in  its  administration. 

As  a  man,  in  all  the  relations  of  life  we  can  find  no  words  but 
in  praise  ;  so  true,  so  pure,  so  simple  and  sincere,  that  we  hardly 
dare  say  what  we  feel  about  his  virtues,  because  we  know  his 


Bishop  Francis  M.  Whittle.  239 

aversion  to  all  that  seemed  like  eulogy  or  flattery.  His  life  and 
example  have  been  and  are  still  an  inspiration  to  his  brethren. 

He  has  gone  to  join  that  communion  of  high  and  sanctified 
spirits  who  are  now  before  the  throne — Bishops  Meade  and  Johns, 
Doctors  Sparrow  and  May,  and  others  whom  time  would  fail  us 
to  name.  May  our  souls  at  the  last  be  with  him,  as  he  is  with 
Christ !     I  have  missed  him  sorely  since  his  death. 

Dudley  A.  Tyng,  his  classmate,  was  a  splendid  fellow,  of 
beautiful  countenance  and  great  gifts  ;  his  early  death  was  a  ter- 
rible loss  to  the  Church.  He  went  out  where  they  were  threshing 
wheat  with  a  loose  gown  on,  which  caught  in  the  machinery  and 
his  arm  was  pulled  out,  but  not  amputated  for  ten  days,  when  he 
died  from  the  shock.  He  was  an  eloquent  preacher  and  great 
extempore  speaker.  At  a  temperance  rally  near  Shepherdstown 
there  was  a  discussion  arranged  between  the  lawyers  in  favor  of 
license  and  Revs.  Messrs.  Andrews  and  Tyng  against  it.  The 
lawyers  thought  they  would  have  an  easy  victory,  but  they  were 
routed  and  it  made  much  talk, 

Another  classmate.  Rev.  A.  A.  Marple,  was  a  strong  man  in 
every  way,  a  useful  minister,  and  did  able  editorial  work  on  the 
Church  papers  of  Philadelphia.  He  wrote  me  he  was  ' '  an  old 
pupil  who  has  not  forgotten  his  Hebrew  professor  or  his  Hebrew." 
I  have  often  recalled  him  with  pleasure. 

I  have  known  Francis  M.  Whittle  ever  since  as  a  youth  he 
entered  the  Episcopal  High  School  in  its  first  session,  and  he  has 
been  ever  the  same,  noble,  strong  and  true.  He  was  born  in 
Mecklenburg  county  July  7,  1823,  next  to  the  youngest  of  nine 
sons  of  Mr.  Fortescue  Whittle.  Brought  up  in  the  country,  with 
its  training  for  every  sense  of  the  body,  in  the  old  Virginia 
refinement  and  culture,  of  a  family  of  high  character  and  abilty, 
we  see  the  inheritance  and  the  surroundings  that  influenced  him. 
After  teaching  a  while,  he  entered  the  Seminary  ;  graduated 
in  1847,  and  was  duly  ordained  deacon  and  priest  by  Bishop 
Meade.  He  labored  first  in  West  Virginia,  in  Kanawha  parish, 
then  in  Goochland  county,  and  in  Berry ville.  He  removed  to 
Kentucky  in  1857,  where  he  labored  most  acceptably  for  ten 
years,  a  conspicuous  leader  in  Church  affairs  and  a  deputy  to  Gen- 
eral Convention.  Known  as  an  ardent  Southerner  in  the  trying 
times  of  the  war  and  incapable  of  temporizing  or  concealing  an 
opinion,  so  high  was  his  character  and  so  pure  his  conduct  that 


240  Bishop  Whitti.e's  Work. 

he  lost  no  influence  or  power  because  of  his  views.  The  same 
in  the  opposite  way  was  true  of  Rev.  Dr.  Osgood  K.  Herrick, 
when  in  Florida  as  a  Northern  man  during  the  war.  Mr.  Whittle 
was  elected  Assistant  Bishop  of  Virginia  in  May,  1867,  and  con- 
secrated April  30,  1868.  He  married  Kmily  Cary  Fairfax, 
daughter  of  Llewellyn  Fairfax.  When  he  was  made  Bishop  the 
Diocese,  including  West  Virginia,  had  about  seven  thousand  com- 
municants scattered  over  sixty-seven  thousand  square  miles  ;  the 
towns  were  few  and  far  apart  ;  the  ways  of  travelling  very  meagre 
and  much  by  private  conveyance.  The  State  was  ruined  by  war, 
business  prostrate,  and  the  people  poor.  The  Bishop,  with 
zeal,  energy,  and  self-denial,  began  his  labors,  and  the  Church 
revived  and  grew  apace.  In  1877,  the  Diocese  of  West  Vir- 
ginia was  set  off  from  Virginia,  and  now  has  two  Bishops  and 
nearly  as  many  communicants  as  the  old  Diocese  when  he  was 
elected.  In  1892  the  Diocese  of  Southern  Virginia  was  set  off 
and  now  has  nearly  twice  as  many  communicants  as  the  entire 
old  Diocese  in  1867.  Where  there  were  about  7,000  communi- 
cants, there  are  now  nearly  30,000  communicants  of  the  Church, 
and  some  of  the  finest  churches  in  the  South  have  been  built  in 
his  Diocese. 

[J.  L/.  W.,  in  the  Southern  Churchman,  has  well  described  his 
character. — Editor.] 

' '  In  the  history  of  Virginia  and  in  the  souls  of  Virginia  people 
Bishop  Francis  M.  Whittle  will  long  abide  as  a  most  honorable 
type  of  Virginia  manhood. 

' '  To  the  general  world  he  seemed  to  fulfil  the  words  of  the 
Prophet :  I  have  set  my  face  as  a  flint.  That  was  against  all 
manifestations  of  duplicity,  scribes,  Pharisees,  hypocrites  in  any 
shape.  Devoted  to  the  service  of  the  true  and  living  God,  mani- 
fested in  the  Saviour,  his  soul  hungered  and  thirsted  for  Him,  in 
His  purity  and  holiness,  and  abhorred  all  shows,  compromises  and 
counterfeits. 

"  Ostentation,  ambition,  greed,  selfishness  and  insincerity 
offended  his  clear  and  high  manhood,  and  found  no  favor  in  his 
eyes.  His  noble  nature  despised  them.  His  soul's  delight  was 
to  be  a  man  among  men,  a  servant  and  worshipper  of  God. 

"  His  friends  knew  him  as  carrying  his  life  in  his  hand,  ready 
at  any  moment  to  be  offered  up  for  his  L,ord  and  Master. 

' '  Such  was  he,  as  a  man  of  God,  a  champion  of  the  faith,  as  a 


Bishop  Whittle's  Character.  241 

defender  of  the  household  of  the  Heavenly  Father.  And  yet  to 
those  who  knew  him  well  and  intimately  his  soul  was  open, 
warm,  affectionate  and  clear  ;  meek,  lowly,  confiding  and  com- 
forting.    His   presence   was   enlightening,  stirring,  wholesome, 

inspiring. 

"  To  dignitaries  and  those  in  high  place,  he  was  courteous,  just, 
kindly  and  faithful.  He  gave  full  honor  to  all  to  whom  it  was 
due.  But  his  liberality  and  bounty  was  not  in  that  direction  ; 
nor  was  his  manhood  ever  compromised  or  under  suspicion  for 
overtributes  to  pomp  and  power   or  for  withholding  what  might 

be  its  due. 

"The  tenderness  of  his  soul  and  the  jealousy  of  his  heart's 
warmest  affections  was  for  the  little  ones  of  the  flock— the  suffer- 
ing, the  struggling,  the  helpless,  the  neglected.  In  that  direction 
the  whole  Diocese  of  Virginia,  ministers  and  people,  join  in  one 
chorus  :  Well  done,  noble  and  honorable  soul.  " 

Brought  up  in  a  large  slave-holding  community,  his  interest 
in  making  the  negroes  good  Christians  was  earnest  and  intelli- 
gent, and  he  worked  and  pleaded  for  them  and  won  the  love  and 
affection  of  every  negro  priest  upon  whose  head  he  laid  his 
hands  in  Holy  Orders. 

[Bishop  Whittle  died  June  18,  1902,  and  was  buried  in  Holly- 
wood. The  minute  of  the  Richmond  Clericus  is  added  as  beauti- 
fully expressing  his  character  :] 

' '  When  the  Richmond  Clericus  carried  the  body  of  our  beloved 
and  revered  Bishop  Whittle  to  the  grave  last  Friday,  we  realized 
that  we  were  performing  the  last  offices  for  one  of  the  greatest 
Bishops  the  American  Church  has  produced  ;  one  of  the  strongest 
preachers  of  the  Gospel  in  his  generation  ;  one  of  the  humblest, 
truest,  most  faithful  and  devoted  Christians  in  the  Church  MiU- 
tant  ;  one  of  the  purest,  noblest,  most  manly  and  sincere  gentle- 
men in  Virginia. 

"Bishop  Whittle  was  an  extraordinary  man.  His  towering, 
erect,  sinewy  form  gave  the  impression  of  strength  ;  his  calm,  set, 
determined  face  confirmed  the  impression  ;  his  firm  mouth  and 
the  direct,  unflinching  glance  of  his  eye  left  no  doubt  that  he  was 
in  earnest ;  that  he  had  convictions,  and  was  prepared  to  main- 
tain them. 

"His  mind  was  of  the  same  robust  character.  He  thought 
clearly  and  directly  ;  neither  imagination  nor  feeling  could  turn 


242  Bishop  Whittle's  Character- 

him  from  the  point  to  which  his  reasoning  conducted  him.  Con- 
vinced that  a  thing  was  right,  he  gave  no  place  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  consequences  to  himself  of  doing  that  thing.  He  felt 
most  deeply  for  others,  and  often  his  tenderly  affectionate  heart 
was  grieved  because  he  must  needs  give  pain  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duty.  He  was  not  stern,  but  firm.  He  was  not  cold,  but 
true.  He  was  unbending,  because  he  believed  to  bend  would  be 
to  be  false. 

"  His  heart  was  ever  kind,  tender  and  affectionate,  but  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duty  his  feelings  did  not  sway  his  judgment. 

' '  His  Christian  character  was  of  the  same  order.  He  loved 
peace,  but  with  him  the  terms  of  peace  were  fixed  and  unaltera- 
ble. 'First  pure,  then  peaceable.'  His  faith  in  the  Scriptures, 
as  the  Word  of  God,  was  simple  and  childlike.  '  Thy  Word  is 
truth,'  and,  as  he  often  said,  he  had  no  commission  to  preach 
anything  else.  He  preached  the  Gospel  with  all  the  powers  of 
his  spirit,  of  his  mind,  and  of  his  body,  and  coming  from  the  whole 
man  it  was  simple,  clear,  earnest,  direct  and  uncompromising. 

"His  humanity  of  spirit,  ever  seeking  to  serve  and  not  to  be 
served  ;  his  beautiful  submission  in  his  many  and  great  afflictions 
and  infirmities  ;  his  untiring  labors  when  the  effects  and  the 
presence  of  pain  and  suffering  were  plainly  visible  ;  his  efforts  to 
labor  on  when  disease  and  weakness  prompted  to  rest,  were  all 
in  keeping  with  the  greatness  and  simplicity  of  his  character. 
He  never  spared  himself,  but  he  was  constantly  warning  his 
clergy  against  overwork.  He  looked  upon  his  great  office  of 
Bishop  as  a  reason  for  greater  humility  and  greater  exertion,  as 
making  him  '  a  servant  of  servants,'  not  as  justifying  him  in 
seeking  ease  or  distinction  or  honors. 

' '  He  was  ever  retiring,  seeking  the  lowest  place  where  duty 
permitted,  often  doing  the  work  of  a  deacon. 

"Yes,  a  great  man,  a  great  Bishop,  a  great  preacher,  and  a 
true  follower  of  Christ  has  gone  from  us.  We  cannot  think  of 
him  as  dead.  We  seem  to  hear  that  earnest,  ringing  voice  sound- 
ing now  from  Paradise,  '  My  brethren,  preach  the  Word,'  and 
the  exhortation,  '  Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  stead- 
fast, unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  lyord.' 
And  from  the  sacred  page  the  spirit  speaks,  '  Remember  them 
that  had  the  riUe  over  you,  which  spake  unto  you  the  Word  of 


Charles  Minnigerode.  243 

God';    and   considering   the   issue   of    their  life,    imitate    their 
faith.'  " 

Death  has  not  yet  dimmed  the  name  of  Charles  Minnigerode, 
who  died  October  13,  1894,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years  and  two 
months.  Born  at  Arenberg,  Westphalia,  Germany,  August  6, 
1 8 14,  his  long  life  was  an  unusually  interesting  and  eventful  one. 
His  family  was  ancient  and  noble  and  his  father  held  a  high 
position  in  Darmstadt.  When  fifteen  years  old  he  was,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  confirmed  after  a  year's 
moral  and  religious  instruction.  The  tender  interest  of  parents 
and  friends,  the  solemn  and  impressive  services,  when  five  hundred 
boys  were  confirmed  on  Whit-Sunday,  and  afterwards  their  first 
communion,  in  which  two  or  three  thousand  friends  and  relatives 
joined,  left  a  deep  impression  on  his  mind,  never  effaced,  and 
strengthed  him  amidst  the  temptations  of  his  university  life. 

The  thoroughness  of  his  training  and  the  strength  and  breadth 
of  his  mind  may  be  seen  when  we  remember  that,  imprisoned  in 
his  seventeenth  year,  for  three  years,  and  cut  off  from  all  books, 
he  was  able  at  the  close  of  that  time  to  take  up  his  work  and  to 
become  a  most  able  teacher  of  languages.  He  married.  May  13, 
1843,  Miss  Marj^  Carter,  of  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  and  it  was  a 
long  and  happy  union,  of  which  they  celebrated  the  golden 
wedding  in  1893. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  see  much  of  Dr.  Minnigerode  during  his 
residence  in  Alexandria  in  his  last  years,  when  his  old  age  was 
serene  and  Christian,  and  did  honor  to  the  Master  whom  he  so 
long  had  served. 

During  the  first  part  of  his  residence  there  he  was  able  to  preach 
occasionally  at  the  Seminary.  On  one  occasion,  speaking  of 
habits  of  irreligion,  he  said  with  the  greatest  energy,  "  Cut  it  off  ! 
Cut  it  off  !  or  it  will  cut  you  off  !  "and  suited  the  action  to  the 
word,  and  it  made  the  greatest  impression  on  some  who  spoke  of  it 
next  day.  His  sermon  on  ' '  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous 
and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his, ' '  made  a  great  impression  on  his  audi- 
ence. I  never  visited  him  without  deriving  some  spiritual  benefit 
from  his  conversation.  He  would  speak  of  verses  upon  which  his 
meditation  had  been  sweet,  such  as,  "I  am  thine,  save  me." 
He  said  if  he  could  preach  again  he  would  try  to  preach  better  ;  so 
said  Bishop  Johns. 

On  one  occasion  he  said  he  feared  he  was  too  desirous  to  depart 


244  Dr.  Minnigerode's  L,ife. 

and  be  with  Christ.  His  time  was  much  occupied  in  writing 
letters  to  his  old  parishioners  and  friends.  If  any  were  sick  or 
bereaved,  his  heart  at  once  went  out  to  them  in  loving  sympathy, 
expressed  in  heartfelt  language.  I  never  knew  any  one  so 
sympathetic. 

I  often  urged  him  to  write  his  life,  which  was  so  eventful,  but 
he  said  he  had  not  energy.  He  was  three  years  in  prison  in 
Germany,  from  sixteen  to  nineteen.  This  prison  was  so  dark 
that  he  could  not  read  after  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The 
German  Government  was  then  very  despotic  and  looked  with 
suspicion  on  the  meetings  of  the  students,  and  he  was  arrested  on 
unjust  suspicions.  The  only  book  allowed  him  was  the  Bible, 
and  he  learned  portions  of  it  by  heart,  on  which  to  think  in  the 
sixteen  hours  of  darkness.  He  thus  learned  nearly  the  whole 
Bible,  read  it  through  eight  times,  and  the  result  was  his  conver- 
sion, which,  he  said,  had  been  ascribed  to  other  causes  (such  as 
the  preaching  of  Dr.  Slaughter  at  an  Association  in  Williamsburg) , 
but  that  this  was  the  true  cause.  He  took  it  up  as  any  other 
book,  he  laid  it  down  and  put  it  in  his  heart  as  "  God's  Book." 

He  was  allowed  after  three  years  to  leave  the  prison,  as  the 
physicians  said  it  would  cause  his  death  to  be  longer  imprisoned. 
He  stayed  with  a  relative  in  the  town  two  years  more,  guarded 
day  and  night,  after  which  his  escape  to  this  country  was  not 
opposed.  He  sailed  in  1 839  for  America,  reaching  it  after  seventy 
days'  voyage. 

When  he  reached  America  he  was  received  with  great  cordial- 
ity by  the  Professors  of  Yale  and  Harvard,  and  settled  in  Phila- 
delphia. He  saw  an  advertisement  of  the  need  of  a  Professor  of 
Ancient  I^anguages  in  William  and  Mary  College,  and  he  wrote 
a  letter  in  I^atin  to  the  Trustees  and  thus  distanced  all  other 
thirty-six  competitors. 

He  was  ordained  Deacon  by  Bishop  Johns,  April  18,  1846,  and 
his  first  parish  was  on  the  James  river.  Prince  George  county, 
where  he  spent  five  years  in  a  four- roomed  house,  in  a  sandy, 
unenclosed  lot  of  five  acres.  Though  his  family  was  large — 
three  children  and  relatives — for  so  small  a  house,  these 
were  the  happiest  years  of  his  life.  He  was  for  some  years  rector 
of  Christ  Church,  Norfolk,  and  had  flattering  calls  elsewhere. 
He  went  from  Norfolk  to  St.  Paul's,  Richmond,  where  he  was 
the  beloved  rector  for  thirty-three  years. 


J.  Stuart  HanckeIv.  245 

He  was  there  during  the  trying  times  of  the  Civil  War,  and 
was  the  pastor  of  General  L,ee  and  many  others.  President  Davis 
and  many  soldiers  and  generals  became  communicants.  The 
whole  South  knew  his  name  and  work. 

He  was  for  many  years  one  of  the  examining  chaplains  of  the 
Diocese,  and  was  most  efficient  and  interested  in  the  work,  and 
he  held  this  place  until  1892.  In  1871  he  was  sent  to  the  Gen- 
eral Convention  in  place  of  Dr.  Sparrow,  and  was  sent  again  and 
again  until  he  declined  from  failing  health. 

His  clear-cut  features,  his  beautiful  countenance  attracted  all 
who  saw  him,  and  his  devoted,  earnest  life  has  been  a  blessing  to 
his  adopted  State  of  Virginia.  As  a  man,  a  scholar,  a  pastor,  a 
preacher,  a  patriot,  he  nobly  fulfilled  every  duty  that  was  within 
his  reach,  and  the  world  is  poorer  for  his  death. 

Rev.  J.  Stuart  Hanckel,  D.  D.,  of  South  Carolina,  succeeded 
Rev.  R.  K.  Meade,  and  was  many  years  rector  of  Christ  Church, 
Charlottesville,  and  had  a  high  and  honored  position  in  Virginia. 
He,  like  Dr.  Minnigerode,  was  one  of  the  first  examining  chap- 
lains of  the  Diocese,  and  was  most  thorough  in  all  of  its  duties. 
He  was  very  prominent  in  Diocesan  and  General  Conventions, 
and  had  great  power  as  a  debater.  He  was  a  scholarly,  agree- 
able man,  and  was  always  a  welcome  visitor  to  this  Seminary. 
He  died  August  22,  1892. 

The  name  of  Rev.  John  J.  McElhinney,  Professor  in  this  Semi- 
nary from  1872  to  1887,  when  he  was  retired  as  Librarian,  brings 
before  the  minds  of  all  who  knew  him  the  picture  of  the  ideal 
scholar. 

Born  in  Pittsburgh,  March,  181 5,  he  was  till  his  seventeenth 
year  at  school  and  helping  his  father  in  business.  In  his  eight- 
eenth year  he  entered  the  College  of  Washington  and  Jefferson, 
Cannonsburg,  Pennsylvania.  Ordained  Deacon  in  1839  and 
Priest  in  1842,  he  labored  in  Pennsylvania,  teaching  and  studying 
at  the  same  time.  In  1846  he  was  married,  and  in  1856  he 
became  Professor  at  Gambier,  where  he  remained,  filling  various 
chairs,  until  1872,  when  he  came  to  this  Seminary.  After  his 
retirement  he  removed  to  Falls  Church,  where  he  had  purchased 
a  home,  and  with  feeble  health  studied  and  read,  occasionally 
visiting  the  Seminary.  He  had  collected  a  very  valuable  library 
of  about  seven  thousand  volumes,  and  few  men  in  any  Church 
were   such  accurate   scholars   in   many    departments.     He   wa& 

16 


246  Prof.  J.  J.   McElhinney. 

studying  and  buying  books  to  the  last,  and  I  remember  his  tell- 
ing me  that  once  passing  through  Pittsburg  he  found  in  a  shop  a 
rare  folio,  and  carried  the  heavy  package  in  his  hands  across  the 
city,  unwilling  to  be  separated  from  it.  He  hated  to  part  with  his 
books,  but  sold  many  before  his  death.  He  marked  his  books 
with  notes.  His  sermons  were  beautifully  written,  keen  and 
original  in  thought,  and  though  his  voice  was  weak  he  was  a  fine 
elocutionist.  They  were  practical,  not  theoretical,  and  he  told 
me  that  he  had  once  observed  some  weeping  while  he  was 
preaching.  One  of  the  young  clergy  preached  one  of  his  sermons 
for  him  when  he  was  sick,  and  it  made  a  deep  impression.  His 
work.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Church,  published  while  he  was  at 
Gambler,  is  a  very  valuable  book  for  its  research  and  vast  stores 
of  learning.  He  published  short  articles  in  the  papers,  and  pam- 
phlets on  Baptism  and  Eternal  Punishment,  which  are  very 
strong. 

Many  old  students  can  recall  him  now,  as  they  used  to  see 
him  walking  across  the  lawn  with  a  book  always  under  his  arm. 
He  had  the  accuracy  and  the  diligence  of  a  German  scholar,  with 
clearer  insight  and  judgment.  He  read  everything— science, 
history,  classics,  as  well  as  theology.  I  often  w^ent  to  see  him  in 
his  little  home,  a  frame  house,  and  you  would  enter  his  room  and 
see  books  all  around  you — on  chairs,  tables  and  floor,  and  even 
on  the  couch  where  he  had  to  rest  his  frail  body  in  order  to 
resume  his  studies.  He  died  August  4,  1895,  and  was  buried  in 
Pittsburg. 

Rev.  Dr.  Henderson  Suter,  born  in  Georgetown  in  1827,  who 
passed  away  about  the  same  time  as  Dr.  McElhinney,  was  for 
seventeen  years  rector  of  Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  and  for 
many  years  a  Trustee  of  the  Seminary.  He  was  well  known  to 
all  of  us  here,  and  often  drove  out  to  look  after  the  buildings  and 
business   affairs  of    the   Seminary,    in   which   he   showed   deep 

interest. 

Dr.  Suter  was  a  great  reader,  a  very  intelligent  man,  and  was 
considered  one  of  the  most  popular  preachers  in  the  Diocese.  He 
was  noted  for  administrative  power  and  fearless  devotion  to  duty. 
For  twenty  years  he  suffered  from  a  complication  of  diseases, 
whose  extent  was  not  known  till  after  his  death,  and  at  times 
endured  excruciating  pain,  which  in  some  degree  always  affected 
him.     He  bore  it  bravely  and  patiently,  and  died  in  peace  and 


Henderson  Suter.  247 

triumph.     He  was  a  brave  Christian  and  most  useful  minister  of 
Christ. 

His  death  was  mourned  not  only  by  his  own  people  but  by  all 
who  knew  him.  He  had  so  lived  that  he  was  not  afraid  to  die, 
and  when  told  that  he  had  but  a  few  hours  to  live,  he  received 
the  inexorable  summons  with  the  resignation  and  the  fortitude 
of  the  faith  that  he  had  professed  and  taught  ;  and  his  manner  of 
death  was  his  last  and  most  effective  sermon. 

I  recall  him  when  he  was  a  clerk  in  the  Washington  Post-office, 
where  he  showed  me  the  book  that  Benjamin  Franklin  used  as 
Postmaster-General.  It  was  a  very  small  common  looking  book  ; 
so  great  is  the  difference  between  those  times  and  these.  He 
used  to  come  over  to  Georgetown  during  the  eight  years  of  his 
Government  service,  and  heard  me  preach  there,  and  he  told  me 
he  was  struck  with  my  raven  black  hair. 

Speaking  of  the  Postoffice  Department  now  reminds  me  of 
what  it  was  in  my  father's  time  and  in  my  early  days.  In  1793, 
when  my  father  was  ordained,  there  were  seventy-five  offices  ;  now 
there  are  seventy-five  thousand.  From  that  time  to  my  coming  to 
the  Seminary,  in  1836,  was  the  stage-coach  era  of  the  postal  system. 
Postage  was  rated  by  pennyweights  and  grains  of  silver,  with  an 
increased  charge  for  every  hundred  miles,  and  you  never  knew 
exactly  what  your  letter  was  going  to  cost.  Yet  the  entire  reve- 
nues of  the  Postoffice  Department  in  Jefferson's  first  year  would 
only  have  paid  the  letter  carriers  in  the  city  of  Washington  now. 
Some  of  my  letters  cost  twenty-five  and  fifty  cents  apiece,  and 
young  men  at  college  or  in  business  were  sometimes  unable  to 
get  their  letters  out  for  want  of  money  to  pay  the  bill,  as  they 
were  not  then  prepaid.  Only  letters  were  sent  by  mail,  and 
pamphlets  and  magazines  were  admitted  first  in  1845,  when 
letter  postage  was  reduced  to  five  and  ten  cents  a  half  ounce. 
Stamps  were  adopted  in  1847,  stamped  envelopes  in  1853,  free 
delivery  in  1863,  and  most  important  of  all  the  railway  mail 
service  in  1865.  Merchandise  was  admitted  to  the  mails  in  1872. 
The  Universal  Postal  Union  now  carries  a  half  ounce  letter  to 
nearly  all  parts  of  the  world. 

Rowland  Hill  succeeded  in  getting  ' '  penny  postage ' '  for 
England  in  1840,  and  is  rightly  hailed  as  a  great  benefactor  of  all 
mankind.  This  was  the  thought  of  a  nature  nobly  trained  in  a 
family  where  simple  living,  unselfish  concern  for  others,  and  a 


248  Penny  Postage. 

high  ideal  of  laboring  for  the  comfort  of  his  fellowmen  held  the 
chief  place.  It  is  said  that  he  once  saw  a  young  woman  on  a 
doorstep  near  the  post-office  sobbing  bitterly.  In  answer  to 
questions,  she  said,  "  A  letter  from  my  mother  is  in  there,  and  I 
can't  get  it  ;  they  ask  seven  pence  and  I  have  but  a  penny." 
Mr.  Hill  released  it  and  went  home  thinking.  Often  we  know 
letters  had  to  go  to  the  ' '  dead-letter  office  ' '  unopened  for  want 
of  the  postage.  Sometimes  tricky  evasions  were  resorted  to,  such 
as  pretending  to  be  unable  to  read,  in  order  to  get  the  contents 
of  the  letter  without  paying,  or  there  would  be  a  set  of  signs  on 
the  outside,  so  that  a  mere  look  would  convey  the  letter's  meaning. 

Time  would  fail  me  if  I  were  to  tell  of  many  other  noble  minis- 
ters of  this  Seminary,  in  Virginia  and  other  Dioceses,  whose 
record  is  on  high.  This  Seminary  may  well  be  proud  of  her 
sons,  who  in  every  land,  in  both  hemispheres,  have  by  their  godly 
life  and  true  doctrine  adorned  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  labored 
for  His  kingdom. 

I  might  speak  of  Dr.  O.  A.  Kinsolving,  of  the  class  of  1845, 
whose  broad  culture,  ability  and  devotion  to  the  Church  are  well 
known,  and  who  gave  to  the  ministry  three  noble  sons,  two  of 
whom  are  bishops.  (Cotton  Mather  commemorates  an  old  Puri- 
tan as  one  excelled  only  by  his  distinguished  sons.)  I  never 
knew  a  father  that  objected  to  his  sons  being  thought  better 
preachers  than  himself.  He  was  a  very  genial  man,  and  delightful 
in  social  intercourse,  a  beautiful  reader  of  the  service,  an  able 
sermonizer  and  preacher.  He  was  of  very  noble  presence  and  on 
one  occasion  when  the  Bishop  was  absent  presided  in  Convention 
with  great  dignity.  He  had  calls  to  larger  positions  but  pre- 
ferred the  country  parish. 

Dr.  WiUiam  Norwood,  the  founder  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  Rich- 
mond, Bishop  Johns  used  to  say,  was  the  best  preacher  in  the 
Diocese,  and  his  son.  Rev.  J.  J.  Norwood,  was  for  many  years  the 
efficient  evangelist  of  Virginia  ;  and  I  might  speak  of  many 
others,  living  and  dead,  whose  names  and  faces  rise  up  before  me. 
I  shall  give  some  random  jottings,  sometimes  giving  names  and 
sometimes  not. 

Rev.  Mr.  Jones,  who  from  his  height  was  called  High  Priest 
Jones,  had  considerable  reputation  in  Virginia  as  a  public  speaker. 
I  remember  his  preaching  on  the  text  "  Call  upon  Me  and  I  will 
show  thee  great  and  mighty  things  which  thou  has  not  known  ' ' 


Norwood  and  Jones.  249 

(Jer.  xxxiii.  3).  Once  when  he  was  preaching  at  Markham,  I 
think,  a  small,  wiry  man  got  up  and  said,  "  Gentlemen,  a  storm 
is  coming  ;  look  to  your  saddles."  A  stampede  of  the  men  en- 
sued, and  when  they  returned  Mr.  Jones  was  in  confusion,  and 
said,  '•  Brethren,  I  have  lost  the  thread  of  my  discourse."  He 
struggled  on  for  a  while  without  finding  it  and  had  to  stop.  No 
storm  came. 

A  like  incident  happened  when  Dr.  Norwood  was  preaching  in 
Richmond.  A  cry  of  fire  caused  many  men  to  leave  the  church, 
and  Mr.  Norwood  thought  to  turn  it  to  good  account.  He  said 
in  substance  :  ' '  How  interested  you  are  in  temporal  things,  if 
your  business  or  your  houses  are  in  danger,  and  how  careless  you 
are  about  eternal  things.  There  is  a  fire  that  will  try  men,  more 
severe  than  this,"  &c.,  &c.  Just  then  Tom  Nelson,  who  was 
well  known  in  Richmond,  came  in  and  said,  sotto  voce,  but  heard 
by  many,  "  It  is  a  false  alarm,"  somewhat  spoiling  the  moral. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

WASHINGTON  CITY. 

WASHINGTON  City  is  of  great  interest  to  us,  because  I 
may  truly  say  that  it  was  the  kind  foster-parent  of  our 
infant  institution.  Washington  and  Maryland  clergymen,  Hke 
Rev.  Walter  D.  Addison,  Mr.  Hawley,  the  Wilmers  and  others, 
wanted  a  seminary  in  Washington  or  Maryland,  but  when  their 
efforts  failed  they  generously  aided  our  Seminary  and  made  it 
their  own.  Washington  and  Maryland  laymen,  like  Francis  S. 
Key,  Judge  James  S.  Morsell  and  others,  worked  and  prayed  for 
our  Seminary.  We  look  to  Washington  and  Maryland  still  to 
send  its  candidates  to  us  to  be  trained  in  harmony  with  the  feel- 
ings and  surroundings  of  these  nearly  related  dioceses. 

I  can  never  forget  Judge  Morsell,  who  was  born  in  1774,  and 
was,  I  thought,  an  old  man  when  I  first  met  him  in  1836.  He 
was  never  married  until  fifty-six  years  old,  but  was  married  twice 
before  he  was  sixty,  each  wife  leaving  him  one  little  girl.  I 
knew  him  through  Rev.  Philip  Slaughter,  then  rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Georgetown,  and  so  cordial  was  his  invitation  to  me  that 
I  looked  upon  it  as  a  home  on  my  visits  to  Georgetown  and  often 
spent  several  days  together  with  him.  I  have  never  known  a 
more  pious,  devoted  layman.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight  to  see  his 
two  little  daughters  kneel  down  before  going  to  bed  and  at  his 
knee  repeat  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  Creed,  when  the  youngest 
could  hardly  pronounce  distinctly  the  words.  He  always  shaved 
on  Saturday  evening  instead  of  Sunday  morning,  and  was  a  most 
devout  and  constant  attendant  at  church.  He  had  a  prayer-meeting 
of  laymen  of  the  Church  to  meet  regularly  at  his  house,  a  sight  I 
never  saw  elsewhere,  and  I  well  remember  attending  it.  He  told 
me  that  he  was  converted  when  a  thoughtless,  irreligious  man, 
by  a  dream  of  the  last  Judgment.  So  vivid  was  it  that  he  rose 
from  his  bed  and  began  to  pray.  For  some  days  he  prayed  with- 
out ceasing,  until  he  found  peace  in  believing.  He  delighted  in 
talking  on  religious  subjects,  and  his  intelligent  interest  in 
Church  affairs  was  very  helpful.  His  brother,  William  Morsell, 
was  the  father  of  Rev.  Joshua  Morsell,  a  friend  of  mine  for  years, 

250 


Judge  Morsell.  251 

and  James  S.  Morsell.  One  of  Judge  Morsell's  daughters  married 
Gen.  William  P.  Craighill.  The  Judge  himself  lived  to  be 
ninety-six  years  old,  dying  in  1870,  and  at  ninety-four  walked 
with  a  cane  anywhere,  and,  with  his  long  snow-white  hair  falling 
on  his  shoulders,  he  made  a  beautiful  picture  of  old  age  found  in 
the  way  of  righteousness.  Judge  Morsell's  memory  has  been 
precious  to  me,  and  I  hope  through  Divine  grace  to  meet  him 
again  in  heaven.  He  was  a  firm  friend  and  supporter  of  the 
Seminary,  of  Bishops  Meade,  Johns  and  Mcllvaine,  and  of 
Doctors  Sparrow,  May  and  Keith. 

General  Craighill  is  of  the  large  and  honored  family  of  that 
name  in  Virginia,  one  being  a  trustee  of  the  Seminary  and  Rev. 
James  B.  Craighill  (1868),  a  faithful  clergyman  in  Maryland. 
General  Craighill,  chief  of  engineers,  was  lately  retired  at  his 
own  desire  under  the  forty-year  service  law,  with  a  most  brilliant 
military  and  scientific  record. 

Francis  Scott  Key,  an  intimate  friend  of  Judge  Morsell,  and  so 
well  known  by  his  national  song,  was  a  lovely  Christian  charac- 
ter. As  early  as  18 16  Rev.  Mr.  Addison  and  the  vestry  of  St. 
John's,  Georgetown,  wishing  a  lay-reader,  requested  the  Bishop 
"  to  appoint  Francis  S.  Key,  whose  talents  and  piety  and  sound- 
ness in  the  faith  render  him  apt  and  meet  to  exercise  the  office." 
His  name  is  inscribed  on  a  brass  tablet  in  our  chapel  as  one  of 
the  founders  of  this  Seminary,  and  he  was  earnest  in  his  prayers 
and  counsels  and  liberal  in  his  gifts  to  it,  and  to  all  good  works. 
He  used  to  exhort  the  people  at  Falls  Church,  and  taught  in 
Trinity  Church  Sunday  School,  where  he  was  senior  warden  and 
lay  delegate.  He  often  attended  our  commencements,  where  I  met 
him.  Once,  shortly  after  the  death  of  his  son  Daniel  in  a  duel, 
I  recall  his  sweet  face  with  its  sad  expression  and  his  silvery 
voice.  He  was  a  very  refined,  dehcate  looking  man,  an  intimate 
friend  of  my  wife's  family. 

As  for  churches,  St.  John's,  Washington  ;  St.  John's  and 
Christ,  Georgetown  ;  Old  Rock  Creek  ;  Christ,  Navy- Yard  ;  with 
Broad  Creek  and  Addison's  Chapel,  both  near  the  city,  were  about 
the  only  ones  of  any  note.  Think  now  of  nearly  fifty  Episcopal 
churches  and  chapels  in  the  District.  Trinity  Church  had  then 
just  been  built  on  Fifth  street,  but  was  afterwards  sold,  and  is 
now  the  site  of  lawyers'  offices.     Rev.  Henry  V.  D.  Johns  had 


252  Church  Attendance. 

been  its  first  rector,  and  had  just  left.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Bean  was 
then  at  Christ  Church,  Washington. 

In  those  days  church  room  in  Washington  was  scarce,  very 
many  more  people  coming  to  the  city  in  the  winter  months  than 
could  find  places  in  the  churches.  I  think,  too,  that  church- 
going  was  more  general  then  than  now  ;  so  that  the  Hall  of  Rep- 
resentatives used  to  be  occupied  on  Sundays  for  public  services. 
These  I  used  to  like  to  attend.  There  was  at  once  a  novelty  and 
freedom  at  them.  A  good  choir  was  usually  made  up,  and 
some  of  the  best  preachers,  the  chaplains  and  others  whose 
services  could  be  secured,  preached.  In  Miss  Murray's  book, 
"  One  Hundred  Years  Ago,"  a  very  interesting  account  is  given 
by  a  stranger  in  Washington  of  a  powerful  sermon  by  Rev.  W. 
D.  Addison,  preached  in  the  House  on  Sunday,  February  5,  1804. 
As  church  accommodations  increased  the  custom  of  using  the 
House  fell  into  disuse,  though  it  continued  at  intervals  till  the  war. 

I  might  say  something  of  the  ministers  of  our  Church  then  in 
Washington.  The  Rev.  James  F.  French,  my  intimate  friend 
and  colleague  at  Bristol,  had  begun  about  1840  what  is  now  Epiph- 
any Church.  They  met  in  Apollo  Hall  and  I  often  used  to 
preach  for  him.  When  Webster  was  preparing  for  the  Girard 
will  case  he  would  frequently  go  to  see  Mr.  French  and  discuss 
with  him  the  evidences  of  religion,  and  thus  he  got  primed  on 
that  part  of  his  argument,  and  made  some  of  the  most  admired 
points  in  his  argument.  One  of  our  ministers  in  the  city,  who 
had  a  vehement,  denunciatory  style,  and  preached  the  law  more 
than  the  gospel,  was  called  by  Senator  William  Preston,  himself 
a  most  polished,  eloquent  speaker,  "  God  Almighty's  prosecuting 
attorney."  One  of  the  chaplains,  a  Methodist,  who  made  a 
great  attempt  at  oratory,  Webster  said  reminded  him  of  a  sylla- 
bub made  of  bad  eggs. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Cookman,  who  was  there  about  this  time,  was 
drowned  in  the  steamer  President,  which  was  lost  at  sea  in  1841. 

Rev.  Mr.  Hawley ,  rector  of  St.  John's,  had  been  a  captain  in  the 
War  of  1812,  and  after  that  studied  for  the  ministry.  He  used 
to  live  on  F  street  near  Thirteenth,  and  would  put  on  his  gown 
and  walk  up  the  street  to  church,  very  erect  and  like  a  soldier. 
When  Epiphany  was  started  about  1840,  the  vestry  of  St.  John's 
objected  to  giving  up  the  best  part   of   the  city  and  refused  to 


Stringfellow  and  Butler.  253 

attend  the  laying  of  the  cornerstone.     Mr.  Hawley  died  about 
1846  and  one  of  his  daughters  still  survives. 

Rev.  Horace  Stringfellow  was  at  Trinity  and  preached  very 
long  sermons.  Dr.  Washington,  one  of  his  members,  told  him  so. 
He  said,  "  I  get  so  interested  I  do  not  know  how  time  goes." 
Dr.  Washington  said,  "  I  will  give  you  a  clock."  So  a  big  faced 
clock  was  put  up.  He  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  once  in  Rich- 
mond took  part  in  the  service  with  his  son  and  grandson.  When 
he  left  Trinity  the  congregation  gave  him  a  silver  pitcher  with 
this  inscription,  "  Whosoever  drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst 
again,"  etc.  Rev.  C.  M.  Butler  was  first  in  Georgetown  and  my 
sisters-in-law  used  to  walk  over  from  Third  street  to  Georgetown 
to  hear  him  preach,  and  they  were  rejoiced  when  he  came  to 
Trinity.  There  he  had  large  congregations,  the  great  men  in 
Congress — Webster,  Clay  and  Calhoun — enjoyed  his  eloquent  ser- 
mons. Rev.  C.  M.  Butler  went  to  see  Calhoun  when  he  was 
sick,  but  he  declined  to  see  him.  Calhoun  said  that  he  had  not 
examined  the  subject  of  religion.  Dr.  Butler  preached  a  funeral 
sermon  on  Calhoun  and  his  text  was  :  "Ye  are  gods,  but  ye  shall 
die  like  men." 

Mr.  Calhoun  was  great  in  conversation  as  in  all  else,  being  a 
most  gifted  man  ;  his  language  was  appropriate  and  beautiful. 
He  was  very  intimate  with  General  Jones. 

Rev.  C.  M.  Butler  with  his  wife  and  child  spent  a  fortnight 
with  me  once.  He  was  a  useful  man  and  an  ingenious  preacher. 
I  heard  him  preach  a  sermon  on  the  text,  "It  is  I,  be  not 
afraid,"  applying  it  in  different  ways,  to  death,  for  instance.  In 
writing  to  my  brother,  a  minister  at  Lawrence,  Massachusetts,  I 
told  him  of  the  sermon.  He  preached  a  sermon  on  the  text  and 
a  lady  in  his  congregation  came  to  him  and  said,  ' '  That  sermon 
reminds  me  of  one  I  heard  Dr.  Butler  preach. ' '  He  was  several 
years  in  Grace  Church,  Boston.  Dr  Butler  administered  the 
Holy  Communion  to  Henry  Clay  not  long  before  his  death.  Clay 
was  very  devout  and  attentive  at  church,  using  his  prayer  book 
faithfully.  Once  when  a  selection  was  to  be  read  the  minister 
went  on  to  the  Psalms  for  the  day  and  Clay  said,  sotto  voce,  ' '  The 
parson  is  out  of  order." 

I  heard  John  Joseph  Gurney,  the  Friend,  a  brother  of  Eliza- 
beth Fry,  speak  in  Washington. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Gilliss,  once  rector  at  Rockville,  had  a  pleasant 


254  Hknry  Clay. 

experience  when  building  Ascension  Church,  where  Bishop  Pink- 
ney  was  afterwards  rector.  He  was  very  friendly  with  a  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  who  said  to  him,  "  You  are  building  a  new 
church.  We  do  not  help  others  build  churches,  but  you  will 
need  a  pavement,  which  will  cost  you  something.  I  will  have  it 
laid."  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Kennedy,  was  well  known  in  Wash- 
ington, and  was  active  in  Church  work. 

The  meetings  of  the  old  Colonization  Society  were  frequently 
held  in  the  House,  generally  at  night.  At  these  the  tall,  willowy 
form  of  Henry  Clay  was  nearly  always  to  be  seen.  I  sometimes 
sat  near  enough  to  have  touched  him.  At  one  of  these  meetings 
he  compared  the  bringing  over  of  the  negroes  to  America  to  the 
bringing  of  the  Israelites  into  the  land  of  Canaan. 

Henry  Clay  was  over  six  feet  tall,  of  very  spare  frame  ;  his 
face  was  homely,  but  full  of  intelligence  and  very  attractive. 
He  had  a  suavity  and  grace  of  manner  that  was  captivating. 
Clay  had  the  finest  voice  I  have  ever  heard,  and  I  think  far  supe- 
rior to  that  of  Spurgeon  or  Beecher  or  any  other.  It  was  sweeter 
even  than  music,  sonorous,  melodious,  silvery,  with  the  depth 
and  clearness  of  a  bell — full  of  the  finest  and  most  delicate  into- 
nations. He  was  heard,  as  few  others  were,  throughout  the 
House  of  Representatives,  which  was  a  hard  room  in  which  to 
speak.  There  was,  I  believe,  never  such  another  Speaker  of  the 
House.  None  dared  to  dispute  his  decisions,  for  they  were  given 
with  such  authority  that  it  seemed  no  other  view  could  be  taken. 
I  remember  once  how  he  said  "  Mr.  President,  this  is  a.  direct  tax, 
a  DIRECT  tax,"  audit  seemed  as  if  it  were  the  most  awful  thing 
that  could  be  said.  I  heard  him  and  Webster  speak  on  the  same 
day,  on  the  Missouri  Compromise  bill.  His  gestures  were  few 
but  graceful  and  his  command  of  an  audience  complete  and  per- 
fect.    He  was  one  of  the  greatest  orators  of  any  land  or  age. 

Clay  boarded  at  this  time  at  Miss  Polk's  boarding-house,  and 
very  often  visited  at  General  Jones'.  His  manners  and  conver- 
sation in  private  were  charming.  When  introduced  to  Miss 
Mary  Lyons,  a  beautiful  and  accomplished  lady,  who  married 
Governor  Henry  A.  Wise,  he  said:  "Madam,  I  would  not  be 
afraid  to  meet  a  den  of  such  lions. ' ' 

Mr.  Clay  was  making  a  speech  once  and  quoted  ' '  Breathes 
there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead ' '  and  made  a  rhetorical  pause. 
Some  one  in   the  audience  thinking  he  had  forgotten  the  rest 


Daniel  Webster.  255 

prompted  him.  Henry  Clay  was  baptised  by  the  Rev.  E.  F. 
Berkeley,  his  rector,  on  June  22,  1847,  when  seventy  years  old, 
together  with  his  daughter-in-law  and  her  children,  in  the  parlor 
at  Ashland,  Kentucky.  He  came  to  the  Holy  Communion  on 
Sunday,  July  4,  and  was  confirmed  by  Bishop  Smith  a  week  or 
two  later. 

I  often  heard  Webster  speak,  especially  before  the  Supreme 
Court.  There  he  was  rather  slow  and  labored,  not  fluent.  He 
kept  his  New  England  pronunciation,  saying  nateral,  &c.  In 
Congress  everything  was  natural  and  informal — often  talk.  A  bill 
would  be  read,  and  Webster  or  some  one  else  would  say  "  Let  it 
pass."  The  only  man  who  declaimed  in  schoolboy  fashion  was 
Walker,  afterwards  in  the  Treasury  and  very  prominent.  I  sat 
very  near  Webster  when  he  spoke  at  the  laying  of  the  corner- 
stone of  the  southern  wing  of  the  new  Capital.  The  clergy  sat 
together  in  the  best  places.  General  Scott,  President  Fillmore 
and  others  of  eminence  were  there,  and  with  the  procession  and 
music  and  speech  was  one  of  the  finest  things  I  ever  saw  in 
Washington — a  grand  occasion.  Webster  came  in  late,  and  I 
remember  well  how  he  swung  himself  round  like  a  mighty  ship 
of  war  coming  to  anchor.  He  showed  great  dignity  and  seemed 
to  feel  himself  above  the  common  mass.  He  had  a  manuscript  in 
his  hand  and  spoke  one  and  a  half  hours.  I  called  on  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Webster  with  my  nephew,  Prof.  William  Packard,  of 
Princeton,  on  January  i,  1852,  the  New  Year's  Day  before  he 
died.  It  was  the  custom  then  to  have  receptions  on  that  day. 
Webster  looked  gaunt  and  haggard.  We  were  the  only  ones 
present  at  the  time.  A  member  of  Congress  now  gets  $12,500 
for  his  two  years'  service  ;  Webster  for  the  same  time  received 
$3,600. 

I  heard  Prentiss,  a  most  winning,  persuasive,  eloquent  speaker, 
and  Calhoun.  Webster,  Clay,  Prentiss  and  Calhoun  were  stars 
of  no  mean  magnitude  in  the  oratorical  and  political  firmament 
of  those  memorable  days. 

When  Webster  was  in  London  he  impressed  people  as  a  great 
man,  many  turned  round  to  look  at  him.  Carlyle  said  he  was  an 
' '  engine  in  breeches. ' '  I  remember  seeing  the  schoolhouse 
where  he  taught. 

It  was  a  terrible  ordeal  getting  into  the  Senate  or  House  when 
the  great  men  were  to  speak.     We  would   have  to  go  at  eight 


256  Early  Washington. 

o'clock,  three  hours  before  the  speaking  began,  and  push  for  a 
place.  The  pressure  was  very  great,  we  were  completely  hemmed 
in  and  could  not  get  out  until  everything  was  over  at  4  or  5  P.  M. 
We  had  to  take  our  lunch  along  or  fast  all  day.  Thus  I  did  not 
hear  them  as  often  as  I  would  have  liked.  I  have  always 
regretted  that  I  did  not  go  to  hear  Clay's  farewell  speech. 

Whenever  Mr.  Clay  spoke  there  was  a  great  crowd.  He 
might  not  have  argued  as  well  as  Mr.  Webster,  but  crowds  prefer 
declamation  to  reasoning.  Mr.  Clay  in  his  out-of-Congress 
speeches  usually  carried  a  roll  of  manuscript,  and  Mr.  Webster, 
too.  They  held  it  in  the  left  hand  as  they  spoke.  It  seemed  as 
necessary  a  part  of  a  public  orator  in  those  days  as  the  pocket- 
handkerchief  did  of  a  bishop.  Speeches  and  sermons  have  both 
become  more  read  now  than  they  used  to  be.  What  they  have 
gained,  however,  in  arrangement  they  have,  in  a  measure  at  any 
rate,  lost  in  popular  acceptability.  The  crowd  wishes  to  have 
some  one  do  all  its  thinking  for  it  ;  to  say  a  thing  takingly,  and, 
if  need  be,  half  a  dozen  times  ;  to  be  replete  with  illustration  and 
and  have  all  the  ways  and  devices  of  what  I  may  call  a  ' '  demo- 
cratic "  mode  of  address.     Clay  was  more  popular  than  Webster. 

In  those  days  Washington  was  only  an  overgrown  village,  if  it 
was  even  that.  Members  of  Congress  paid  only  eight  dollars  a 
week  board  ;  plain  people  less.  They  had  only  surface  drainage  ; 
the  cows  ran  at  large,  and  foot-paths  abounded  over  the  commons 
in  almost  every  direction.  The  population  was  not  much  more  than 
20,000.  ' '  The  Avenue ' '  was  hardly  more  than  a  good  road  ; 
tall  poplars  lined  many  of  the  streets — the  stately  old-fashioned 
lyombardy,  now  so  little  seen  ;  C  and  D  were  then  fashionable 
streets.  At  the  foot  of  the  Capitol  Hill,  where  now  stands  the  group 
of  statuary,  was  a  rough  wooden  bridge  across  the  Tiber,  once 
called  Goose  creek,  and  it  was  very  muddy  around  there.  In 
1841,  when  Mrs.  Anthony  Trollope  visited  Washington,  she  gives 
a  very  lugubrious  account  of  the  streets,  and  .speaks  of  seeing 
teams  stalled  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue.  The  Adamses  in  their 
journals  describe  the  city  as  most  primitive,  and  the  streets  as 
often  impassable.  I  have  frequently  walked  over  all  that  part  of 
the  city  beet  ween  the  Island  and  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  which  was 
the  Mall  or  Common,  seamed  with  gullies,  with  no  houses,  no 
Smithsonian  building  or  grounds.  A  canal  went  down  B  street 
just  below  the  Avenue,  along  where  the  Pennsylvania  depot  now 


Washington  Streets.  257 

is.  I  remember  when  the  depot  was  a  mere  rough  shed.  When 
the  depot  was  built  I  saw  them  driving  in  the  most  immense  piles 
for  its  foundation,  as  the  ground  was  very  low  and  marshy,  as 
was  seen  in  the  flood  in  1889,  when  boats  were  used  to  cross  from 
the  Avenue  to  the  Pennsylvania  depot,  and  went  right  in  the 
Sixth-street  door,  the  water  nearly  covering  the  seats. 

Mrs.  Trollope  says,  in  her  reminiscences  of  Washington  in 
i84i-'2,  what  is  vivid  in  my  memory  : 

"  Washington  is  but  a  ragged,  unfinished  collection  of  unbuilt 
broad  streets.  Of  all  places  that  I  know  it  is  the  most  ungainly  and 
unsatisfactory.  Massachusetts  avenue  runs  the  whole  length  of  the 
city,  and  is  inserted  on  the  maps  as  a  full-blown  street  about  four 
miles  in  length.  Go  there  and  you  will  find  yourself  not  only 
out  of  town,  away  among  the  fields,  but  you  will  find  yourself 
beyond  the  fields  in  an  uncultivated,  undrained  wilderness. 
Tucking  your  trousers  up  to  your  knees,  you  will  wade  through 
the  bogs,  you  will  lose  yourself  among  the  rude  hillocks,  you 
will  be  out  of  the  reach  of  humanity.  The  unfinished  dome  of 
the  Capitol  will  loom  before  you  in  the  distance,  and  you  will 
think  that  you  approach  the  ruins  of  some  Western  Palmyra.  If 
you  are  a  sportsman  you  will  desire  to  shoot  snipe  within  sight 
of  the  President's  House.  There  were  parts  of  Pennsylvania 
avenue  which  would  have  been  considered  heavy  ground  by  most 
hunting  men,  and  through  some  of  the  remoter  streets  only  light- 
weights could  have  lived.  Have  I  made  it  understood  that  in 
walking  about  Washington  one  wades  as  deep  in  mud  as  one 
does  in  floundering  through  an  ordinary  ploughed  field  in  Novem- 
ber ?  Trade  seems  to  have  ignored  Washington  altogether. 
Such  being  the  case,  the  lyCgislature  and  the  Executive  of  the 
country  together  have  been  unable  to  make  of  Washington  any- 
thing better  than  a  straggling  congregation  of  pilgrims  in  a 
wilderness. ' ' 

Mr.  W.  Reading,  of  Rockville,  went  to  Washington  from  Penn- 
sylvania in  1852,  and  was  urged  to  buy  lots  sold  by  the  city  for 
taxes  or  for  other  reasons.  He  saw  lots  on  Massachusetts  ave- 
nue and  Fifteenth  street  sold  at  five  cents  a  foot  ;  on  L,  street, 
between  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  streets,  at  two  cents  a  foot. 
One  lot  of  four  acres  between  L,  and  M  and  the  above  streets  was 
sold  at  two  cents  a  foot,  alleys  being  deducted.  What  a  great 
change  in  prices  and  conditions  since  that  time  ! 

The  corner-stone  of  the  Washington  Monument  was  laid  on  July 
4,  1848.  General  Jones  went  in  the  carriage  with  Mr.  G.  W.  P. 
Custis,   of   Arlington,   Mrs.   Alexander   Hamilton,   then  in  her 


258  Robert  C.  Winthrop. 

ninety-first  year,  and  the  orator  of  the  day,  Robert  C.  Winthrop, 
of  Boston,  who  rode  beside  General  Jones.  Mr.  Custis  brought 
with  him  a  sword  presented  to  him  by  General  Washington,  with 
the  date  1775  inscribed  on  the  blade.  When  the  monument  had 
been  built  100  feet  the  funds  gave  out,  and  Congress  did  not 
appropriate  anything  until  long  after  the  war.  While  it  remained 
unfinished  it  was  very  unsightly,  and  Trollope  ridiculed  it  as  a 
stump  of  a  monument.  Mr.  Winthrop  became  a  very  distin- 
guished man,  and  was  a  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  very  prominent  and  useful  in  our  Church.  He 
delivered  the  oration  at  its  completion,  some  forty  years  after. 
He  was  President  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Episcopal  Theological 
School  of  Cambridge,  Mass.,  at  his  advanced  age,  dying  in  No- 
vember, 1894. 

Mr.  Winthrop,  born  at  same  time  as  myself,  studied  law  under 
Webster  and  succeeded  Webster  as  Senator,  having  been  ten 
years  in  Congress.  No  more  independent  man  lived  during  the 
Civil  War,  and  being  put  out  of  political  life,  he  devoted  himself 
to  literary,  historical  and  philanthropic  work,  and  he  became  a 
chosen  orator  upon  historical  occasions.  His  career  resembles 
that  of  Severn  Teackle  Wallis,  of  Baltimore,  whose  name  sheds 
lustre  on  Maryland.  His  frequent  guests  at  his  home  were 
Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  lyincoln  and  John  Q.  Adams,  though 
often  opposing  the  pet  schemes  of  each. 

When  John  Brown,  of  Harper's  Ferry,  is  made  still  a  saint  and 
martyr,  and  good  women  weep  scalding  tears  over  his  grave,  it 
is  pleasant  to  recall  that  at  the  time  a  Massachusetts  man  wrote  : 

"I  shall  not  forget  the  emotions  with  which  I  received,  at 
"Vienna,  last  November,  the  first  tidings  of  the  atrocious  affair  at 
Harper's  Ferry.  *  *  *  i  think  there  could  have  been  no 
true  American  heart  in  Europe  that  did  not  throb  and  thrill  with 
horror  at  that  announcement.  But  I  confess  to  have  experienced 
emotions  hardly  less  deep  or  distressing  when  I  read  not  long 
afterward  an  account  of  a  meeting  in  this  very  hall  (the  Boston 
Music  Hall)  at  which  the  gallows  at  Charlestown,  in  Virginia, 
was  likened  to  the  Cross  of  Calvary,  and  at  which  it  was  openly 
declared  that  the  ringleader  of  that  desperate  and  wicked  con- 
spiracy was  right." 

The  Capitol  when  I  first  saw  it  was  not  a  third  as  large  as  now. 
It  had  a  low  dome,  which  looked  black.  The  present  dome  was 
finished  about  the  close  of  the  war.     There  was  a  fire  in  the  Capitol 


John  Quincy  Adams,  259 

Library  which  was  very  destructive.  Among  other  losses  were 
Jefferson's  manuscripts  in  his  own  writing,  which  I  had  seen 
there. 

The  Long  Bridge  was  at  first  an  uncovered  wooden  bridge, 
which  was  carried  away  by  floods  several  times.  General  Jack- 
son recommended  one  of  iron  and  stone.  The  present  Long 
Bridge  cost  about  one  million  dollars,  I  have  heard. 

The  Aqueduct  Bridge,  under  which  was  the  canal  to  Alex- 
andria, was  thought  a  wonderful  feat  of  engineering  then, 

John  Quincy  Adams  lived  in  the  next  house  to  Dr.  Miller,  on  F 
street,  owned  by  Mrs.  Thornton,  I  think.  There  was  a  narrow 
alley  between,  used  in  common  by  both,  and  Dr.  Miller  thought 
Mr.  Adams  rather  hard  and  exacting.  The  houses  were  then 
very  plain  in  appearance  but  large  and  comfortable.  I  visited 
ex-President  Adams  twice  ;  first  when  I  delivered  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  him  from  my  father,  who  was  his  classmate,  and 
who  walked  with  him  in  the  procession  at  a  reunion  of  Harvard 
alumni,  and  again  when  I  took  my  eldest  brother  to  visit  him. 
His  manners  were  formal,  cold  and  repelling.  Many  were  amused 
at  his  chronic  defense  of  the  "  sacred  right  of  petition,"  which 
the  Southern  Congressmen  were  anxious  to  restrict,  and  though 
he  might  oppose  its  purpose,  Adams  would  promptly  present  any 
respectable  petition.  This  was  fully  tested,  I  remember,  in  1837, 
when,  to  the  astonishment  of  every  one,  he  presented  a  petition 
from  actual  slaves,  and  compelled  its  reception  in  spite  of  the 
uproar  which  it  created.  He  was  well-informed,  witty  and  pro- 
found. 

Like  his  father,  he  kept  very  full  diaries  and  journals,  which 
have  been  published  in  twelve  volumes,  I  think.  He  mentions 
his  habit  of  daily  swimming  across  the  Potomac,  a  mile  wide,  in 
any  fit  weather.  One  one  occasion  he  was  nearly  drowned,  being 
seized  with  cramp.  Like  his  father,  he  was  a  Unitarian, 
and  every  Sunday  morning  he  attended  a  feeble  Unitarian 
church  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  D  Streets,  which  was  after- 
wards sold.  In  the  afternoon  he  always  went  to  St.  John's, 
where  Mr.  Hawley,  a  genial  man,  was  rector,  and  I  remember 
seeing  him  there  one  rainy  day,  when  I  was  preaching,  though 
nearly  all  others  were  kept  away  by  the  thunderstorm.  His  last 
intelligible  words  were,  ' '  This  is  the  last  of  earth ;  I  am  con- 
tent." 


26o  Henry  A.  Wise. 

One  of  the  first  times  I  went  to  Congress  I  heard  Henry  A. 
Wise,  afterwards  Governor  of  Virginia.  He  was  speaking  with 
the  greatest  vehemence,  though  not  distinctly  heard,  and  de- 
nounced the  extravagance  of  the  Administration  just  going  out 
(General  Jackson's).  He  said  they  had  mirrors  as  big  as  barn- 
doors in  the  White  House. 

He  is  described  as  pale  and  thin,  "slovenly  in  apparel.  His 
white  cravat  added  to  his  invalid  pallor,  but  he  had  dark  and 
brilliant  eyes.  To  see  him  sauntering  about  the  hall  with  his  long 
Indian  strides,  you  would  be  tempted  to  ask  who  he  was  ;  to  hear 
him  speak  your  attention  would  be  riveted  on  him.  Firmness, 
impetuosity,  fierce  sarcasm  and  invective  all  gather  in  a  hurri- 
cane and  startle  the  drowsy  members  from  the  lounges."  He 
was  a  fearless  and  hone.st  citizen,  temperate,  never  gaming,  and 
fighting  but  one  duel,  when  his  impetuosit}^  might  have  provoked 
many.  His  son,  Rev.  Henry  A.  Wise,  left  a  brilliant  reputation 
behind  him,  dying  early  in  life. 

The  early  Presidents  were  for  the  most  part  Episcopalians. 
Washington's  church,  Christ  Church,  Alexandria,  we  all  know 
about.  Jefferson  attended  Christ  Church,  Navy  Yard,  and  Mr. 
Combs,  an  old  vestrymen,  has  told  me  that  he  often  saw  him  ride 
down  there  on  horseback  with  a  large  prayer-book  under  his  arm. 
In  this  church  alone  a  pew  was  set  aside  for  the  President,  per- 
haps from  Jefferson's  attendance.  The  Adamses  were  regular 
church-goers.  Jackson  was  not  a  religious  man.  Once  he 
promised  his  wife  to  join  some  church,  "  but,"  said  he,  "  if  I  do 
it  now  people  will  say  it  is  for  political  effect.  Wait  till  I  get 
out  of  politics. ' '  He  never  got  out  of  politics  till  very  near  the 
close  of  his  life.  He  then  made  a  confession  of  Christ,  was  bap- 
tized by  one  of  our  graduates,  and  died  ver}^  soon  after.  Van 
Buren  was  a  very  little  man,  red-faced,  and  was  rather  peculiar- 
looking  with  his  side  whiskers  and  slanting  forehead  and  tiny 
form. 

I  saw  President  Jackson  on  the  inauguration  of  President  Van 
Buren,  March  4,  1837,  when  they  rode  together  to  the  Capitol. 
It  was  a  cold,  snowy  day,  and  there  was  only  a  single  boat  to 
carry  us  up  from  Alexandria.  It  was  heavily  loaded  and 
careened  sometimes,  to  the  fear  of  many.  The  river  had  a  skim 
of  ice,  and  we  rather  feared  the  boat  might  be  cut  by  it  and 
injured.     There  were  only  three  or  four  thousand  people  around 


President  Van  Buren.  261 

the  stand,  and  it  was  sloppy  and  disagreeable.  I  went  to  the 
White  House  and  saw  Jackson  there  and  shook  hands  with  him. 
This  was  my  first  acquaintance  with  a  President,  and  I  am 
pleased  to  think  that  I  have  visited  President  Cleveland  and 
shaken  hands  with  him — a  worthy  successor  of  Washington, 
Jefferson  and  Jackson,  a  true,  brave,  able  and  patriotic  man. 

On  this  occasion,  in  1837,  a  monstrous  cheese,  the  size  of  a 
large  round  table,  which  had  been  sent  to  Van  Buren,  was  cut, 
and  I  got  a  piece  of  it,  and  some  crackers,  which  were  handed 
around.  The  cheese  was  mashed  on  the  floor,  and  the  whole 
house  and  almost  the  whole  city  was  redolent  of  cheese,  frag- 
ments of  it  lying  everywhere  on  the  streets.  The  Presidents 
used  to  go  to  the  Senate  and  House  oftener  than  they  do  now, 
and  were  seen  by  the  people. 

Jefferson  was  a  contributor  to  the  Episcopal  Church,  once  giving 
Mr.  Hatch,  the  rector  at  Charlottesville,  twenty  dollars  on  the 
occasion  of  the  Diocesan  Convention.  Jefferson's  character  has 
been  much  discussed.  Dr.  Hawks  wrote  a  bitter  article  upon  him 
in  the  New  York  Review.  Some  one  has  said  that  his  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  a  plagiarism  from  that  of  Mecklenburg  county, 
North  Carolina,  a  year  before,  and  that  the  English  was  not  good  ; 
as  to  "  human  events,"  events  are  not  human,  and  other  criticisms 
are  made.     This  may  be  hypercritical. 

The  financial  question  was  then  much  discussed,  and  I  heard 
much  talk  of  the  banks  and  the  deposits  and  the  removal  of  the 
public  moneys.  Jackson  in  1834  completed  what  Jefferson  in  1804 
had  begun,  making  gold  the  standard  of  the  country,  and  I  can 
remember  what  a  curiosity  a  silver  dollar  was  in  those  days,  as 
none  were  coined  for  many  years. 

There  was  great  excitement  in  the  Presidential  canvass  of  Clay, 
Tyler  and  Harrison.  The  opponents  of  Harrison  said  that  he 
was  only  fit  to  sit  in  a  cabin  and  drink  hard  cider.  This  was 
what  very  many  loved  to  do  in  those  days,  so  that  it  did  not  in- 
jure him  but  made  him  popular.  A  wigwam  was  erected  on  the 
Avenue  and  many  people  went  in  for  the  cider  and  the  dancing. 
In  consequence  of  the  exposure  and  fatigue  at  his  inauguration, 
of  which  the  hand-shaking  was  a  large  element,  he  caught  cold 
and  soon  died.  Dr.  Miller  was  his  physician.  I  think  he  rode 
horseback  to  the  Capitol.  I  saw  Tyler  in  his  private  room  and 
had  some  talk  with  him.     I  have  heard  that  after  his  term  ejc- 

17 


262  Presidknts  Tyler  and  Pierce. 

pired  as  President,  when  he  went  back  to  Virginia,  some  of  his 
political  opponents,  thinking  to  mortify  him,  elected  him  road 
supervisor.  He  accepted  the  office  and  took  good  care  to  call 
out  the  hands  and  horses  just  at  the  most  inconvenient  times, 
and  worked  them  up  to  the  limit  of  the  law.  He  secured  better 
roads,  but  he  was  not  re-elected  supervisor  of  the  roads.  Zachary 
Taylor,  I  remember,  looked  like  an  old  farmer. 

Clay's  canvass  reminds  me  somewhat  of  Bryan's  last  canvass. 
He  went  about  speaking,  and  though  such  a  matchless  orator,  he 
failed  to  be  elected.  The  man  that  talks  the  most  does  not  always 
have  the  most  weight  and  influence.  Doctors  Sparrow  and  Nor- 
ton hardly  ever  opened  their  lips  in  Conventions,  except  to  vote, 
yet  both  had  commanding  influence. 

I  knew  President  Pierce  quite  well,  and  often  saw  him.  He 
and  my  brother  married  sisters,  and  I  stayed  with  my  brother 
once  at  the  White  House,  and  once  rode  with  Mrs.  Pierce  to  the 
Navy  Yard.  Franklin  Pierce  was  at  my  wedding  and  eighteen 
years  after  became  President,  no  one  then  dreaming  of  such  a 

thing. 

I  remember  very  well  the  tragedy  of  Tyler's  administration 
when  the  cannon  ' '  Peacemaker ' '  burst  on  board  of  the  frigate 
Princeton,  killing  several  of  the  distinguished  party  on  board.  I 
was  in  my  garden  sowing  peas  on  February  28,  1844,  when  in 
the  afternoon  I  heard  a  tremendous  explosion,  as  I  judged,  near 
Fort  Washington.  Captain  Stockton,  commander  of  the  Prince- 
ton, had  taken  a  large  and  brilliant  company  of  400  guests  down 
the  river  and  the  great  gun  carrying  a  225  pound  ball  had  been 
fired  several  times.  On  the  way  back  when  opposite  the  Fort, 
the  captain  agreed  to  fire  it  once  more.  After  firing,  the  gun 
burst  three  or  four  inches  from  the  breech,  wounding  seventeen 
seamen.  Among  those  killed  by  the  explosion  was  Abel  P.  Upshur, 
the  Secretary  of  State,  an  ornament  to  human  nature,  who  re- 
called the  old  patriots  of  Virginia  to  our  memory  ;  Thomas  W. 
Gilmer,  only  ten  days  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  whose  sister,  Mrs. 
Ann  McGee,  has  lately  passed  away  ;  Commodore  Beverly  Ken- 
non,  whose  widow  now  lives  in  Georgetown  in  a  beautiful  old 
age,  after  a  most  influential  and  useful  life  ;  Virgil  Maxcy  and 
Ex-Senator  Gardner  of  New  York. 

The  grief  and  mourning  in  Washington  were  unparalleled. 
The  funeral  services  of  these  men  were  held  at  the  White  House 


Explosion  on  the  Princeton.  263 

by  Rev.  Messrs.  Hawley,  Butler  and  Laurie  (a  Presbyterian). 
There  was  an  immense  procession  from  the  Capitol  to  the  White 
House,  sweeping  trains  of  crepe  hung  from  doors  and  windows 
everywhere,  cannons  were  slowly  firing,  bells  tolling,  the  vast 
crowd  mute  and  dumb  at  the  great  calamit5%  and  over  all  the 
mist  and  cloud  of  a  dark  day  in  contrast  to  the  warm,  genial  day 
of  the  explosion,  all  presented  a  scene  of  woe  greater  than  had 
ever  been  seen  before. 

I  saw  ex-President  Buchanan  during  the  war  washing  his 
hands  out  of  doors  at  the  Relay  House.  It  was  said  that  he  was 
insulted  by  the  father  of  the  lady  to  whom  he  was  engaged  tell- 
ing him  he  was  a  fortune  hunter,  and  never  married  her  or  any 
one.     The  lady  died  from  the  effects  of  her  grief. 

The  only  time  I  ever  saw  Jefferson  Davis  was  at  the  White 
House  when  he  was  Secretary  of  War.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
the  wonderful  single  arch  of  stone  over  Cabin  John  Run  was 
built,  though  Davis'  name  has  been  cut  out  of  the  stone  from  some 
petty  spirit  of  dislike. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
WAR  TIMES. 

I  HAVE  been  asked  to  give  some  accouut  of  my  experiences 
in  the  Civil  War.  As  I  look  back  upon  them  they  do  not 
seem  to  have  happened  to  me,  but  to  some  one  else.  They  do 
not  differ  materially  from  those  of  many  others  who  were  refu- 
gees, like  myself.  The  "  Diary  of  a  Refugee,"  by  Mrs.  McGuire, 
who  lately  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  gives  in  a  simple  and 
easy  style  her  reminiscences.  It  is  a  book  that  deserves  a  much 
wider  circulation  than  it  has  received.  I  do  not  propose  to  enter 
into  any  discussion  about  the  causes  of  the  war — simply  to  give 
a  narrative  of  the  experiences  of  myself  and  family. 

It  is  extraordinary  how  few  persons  brought  on  the  war.  The 
more  I  think  of  it  the  more  unnatural  it  seems.  The  mass  of  people. 
North  and  South,  did  not  desire  the  war,  and  some  of  the  strong- 
est Union  men  were  Southerners,  who,  however,  felt  constrained 
to  go  with  their  States.  Clay  and  Webster  had  with  equal  earn- 
estness tried  to  preserve  the  Union  in  their  day. 

I  know  of  many  instances  where  brothers  were  equally  divided 

on  the  two  sides — a  dreadful  state  of  things,  when  you  think 

of  it. 

"And  every  hand  that  dealt  a  blow, 

Ah  me  !  it  was  a  brother's," 

it  might  be  truly  said,  showing  the  strong  convictions  on  each 
side. 

In  the  session  of  i860-' 6 1  the  Seminary  had  seventy-three 
students,  a  greater  number  than  ever  before.  There  had  been 
much  agitation  in  Congress  and  in  the  country,  and  much  uneasi- 
ness as  to  what  would  be  the  issue.  There  was  great  excitement 
in  the  whole  country  ;  rumors  of  impending  war  became  more 
and  more  frequent,  but  we  had  had  no  experience  of  war,  and  in 
our  ignorance  thought  that  it  might  be  averted.  One-half  of  our 
students  were  from  the  North,  and  gradually  left  us  as  the 
spring  advanced.  There  was  the  utmost  good  feeling  between 
the  Northern  and  Southern  students  at  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Seminary.  There  was  a  panic  among  the  families  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, who  left  their  homes  for  a  place  of  refuge.     The  Mayor 

264 


War  Timbs.  265 

of  Alexandria  sent  out  word  that  there  might  be  firing  and  they 
had  better  move  away.  I^ittle  did  we  think  that  the  storm  of  war 
would  sweep  over  our  homes  for  more  than  four  years,  and  our 
houses  be  despoiled  of  their  contents.  We  went  away  leaving 
everything,  thinking  a  lock  and  key  sufficient  to  protect  our 
household  goods.  We  left  everything  in  the  house — linen,  pict- 
ures, books,  china,  furniture  ;  and  silver  in  a  box  in  the  library. 
Never  did  my  home  look  fairer  than  when  I  left  it  in  May,  1861, 
my  family  having  gone  before.  It  seemed  to  put  on  all  its  loveli- 
ness as  I  was  about  to  leave  it.     Some  natural  tears  I  shed. 

We  expected,  ignorant  as  we  were,  that  we  would  soon  return 
and  find  our  goods  in  peace.  When  after  four  years  I  returned, 
my  house  was  dilapidated,  few  panes  of  glass  left  in  it,  and  books, 
furniture  and  cherished  memorials  were  all  gone.  A  friend  at  the 
North  thought  I  spoke  with  acerbity  of  my  loss,  since  he  had  seen 
my  books  carefully  packed  away.  His  remark  was  repeated  to 
me  by  a  friend,  and  I  simply  said  :  "  Packed  up  !  yes  ;  but  they 
did  not  send  them  to  me."  My  large  family  Bible  with  records 
was  carried  off",  and  twenty  years  after  the  postmaster  at  Alexan- 
dria received  a  letter  asking  of  me,  and  the  writer  said  that  he 
would  send  it  to  me  if  I  would  forward  stamps,  which  I  did. 

Some  neighbors  had  kindly  come  in  and  saved  a  picture  or  two. 
A  beautiful  portrait  of  Anne  Lee,  my  wife's  grandmother,  by 
Sully,  copied  from  Stuart,  was  ruthlessly  ripped  up  by  a  bayonet. 

I  carried  Dr.  May  to  town  in  my  carriage,  as  he  was  going  to 
Philadelphia  and  he  looked  like  Jeremiah,  the  weeping  prophet  ; 
we  were  both  very  sad  at  parting. 

Rev.  Herman  L.  Duhring,  of  Philadelphia,  who  was  here  when 
the  war  began,  visited  the  Seminary  lately,  when  in  Alexandria, 
to  address  the  Convocation  on  Sunday  Schools.  He  had  not  been 
here  for  more  than  thirty-five  years,  and  remembered  my  telling 
them  all  good-bye  as  they  left  in  '61,  and  saying,  "  We  will  soon 
see  you  again."  He  kindly  said  to  me,  "  Doctor,  your  Hebrew 
has  been  of  use  to  me  all  my  life  ;  "  then  jokingly,  "  I  tried  it  on 
the  beggars  in  Europe  with  great  effect."  He  told  me  that  I 
looked  pretty  much  as  I  did  when  he  saw  me  in  1861,  only  my  hair 
was  whiter. 

Rev.  W.  H.  Neilson  told  me  that  in  the  middle  of  April,  1861, 
Mrs.  McGuire  met  him  on  the  walk  and  told  him  that  Virginia 
had  seceded.  Then  he  and  the  other  Northern  students  decided 
to  leave,  and  four  went  together — Bancroft,  Duhring,  G.  Zabriskie 


266  Use;  op  the  Buildings. 

Gray  and  himself.  When  they  reached  the  boat  from  Alexandria 
to  Washington  there  were  so  many  on  board  that  the  captain  said 
no  more  baggage  should  be  taken  after  his.  When  they  got  to 
Baltimore  the  great  riot  was  going  on  and  the  streets  were  filled 
with  confusion  and  fighting.  Shortly  after  they  got  on  the  train 
the  angry  mob  rushed  in  and  surrounded  it.  They  pulled  down 
the  blinds  and  felt  much  anxiety.  Presently  the  mob  was  attracted 
to  the  baggage  room  and  the  conductor  started  his  train  out,  and 
it  was  the  last  train  that  left  for  some  time. 

The  Seminary  and  High  School  buildings  in  the  month  of 
June,  1 86 1,  were  occupied  as  hospitals.  One  of  the  largest  hos- 
pitals of  the  Union  army  was  established  here.  Additional 
barracks  were  put  up  in  the  Seminary  grounds,  so  that  at  one 
time  there  were  no  less  than  1,700  patients  here.  Five  hundred 
and  more  died  during  the  four  years'  occupancy  and  were  buried 
in  the  lower  corner  of  the  Seminary  grounds,  opposite  my  place, 
and  afterwards  removed  to  the  National  Cemetery  outside  Alex- 
andria. Some  boys  playing  in  Dr.  Walker's  garden,  as  late  as 
1870,  fell  through  a  hole  in  the  ground  into  a  shallow  grave, 
where  a  skull  and  bones  were  found. 

Rev.  John  A.Jerome,  class  of  1851,  Dr.  Sparrow's  son-in-law, 
was  stationed  as  chaplain  at  the  Seminary  Hospital,  and  did  good 
service  by  taking  care  of  things  as  much  as  possible  during  the 
war.  I  think  he  had  the  library  books  boxed  up,  and  he  saved 
Dr.  Sparrow's  library.  On  one  occasion  he  saw  that  a  soldier 
had  written  his  name  on  the  Seminary  wall.  He  had  him  called 
up  and  made  him  wash  it  off. 

My  own  house  was  used  as  a  bakery,  and  fifteen  hundred  loaves 
of  bread  baked  daily  in  my  kitchen  in  a  brick  oven  which  was 
built  along  its  side.  Many  soldiers  convalescing  were  imprudent 
in  eating  apples  in  my  orchard  and  some,  it  is  said,  died  thereby. 

As  the  Seminary  was  in  the  Union  lines,  repeated  applications 
were  made  to  Congress  after  the  war  for  rent  for  the  buildings, 
which  after  twenty-five  years  was  granted  by  an  appropriation  of 
<j52o,ooo,  of  which  $8,000  went  to  the  lawyers  and  agents.  As 
much  as  this  had  probably  been  expended  in  the  repairs  of  build- 
ings and  renewal  of  fences.  The  barracks  that  had  been  put  up 
were  cut  up  and  used  to  fence  the  Seminary  grounds.  On  one  of 
them  we  found  written  in  large  letters,  "  Things  aint  am  as  they 
used  to  was  ;  "  true  enough,  if  not  elegantly  expressed. 

At  the  session  of  Congress  which  made  the  appropriation  for 


Dr.  Peyton's  Home.  267 

rent,  General  W.  H,  F.  Lee,  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, who  had  the  bill  in  charge,  was  asked  whether  the 
Professors  were  loyal  or  prayed  for  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  He  replied  very  pleasantly  that  "they  prayed  for  all 
sinners,  "  which  excited  a  general  smile.  It  was  the  very  last  bill 
that  President  Cleveland  signed  in  his  first  administration. 

I  took  refuge  with  my  family  in  the  home  of  ray  brother-in-law, 
Dr.  Robert  E.  Peyton,  near  "The  Plains,"  Fauquier  county, 
Virginia.  He  was  a  physician  and  a  large  farmer,  and  one  of  the 
most  earnest  Christian  men  I  ever  knew.  Dr.  Peyton  was  in  the 
habit  of  collecting  his  servants  early  in  the  morning  before  they 
went  out  to  their  work  and  praying  with  them,  and  on  Sund  ny  even- 
ing he  gathered  them  for  a  service  of  prayer,  exhortation  and  song. 
He  had  a  good,  strong  voice,  and  led  the  singing,  which  was  fine. 
He  told  me  once  that  no  one  of  them  had  died  on  the  place  since 
he  came  in  possession  of  it  without  showing  in  someway  evidence 
of  faith  and  of  a  good  hope  of  salvation.  I  have  never  met  with  any 
one  so  familiar  with  Scott's  Commentary  on  the  Bible  as  he  was. 
He  made  it  the  man  of  his  counsel,  and  I  recall  him  as  he  sat 
reading  it  before  breakfast.  I  kept  open  the  little  church  at  "  The 
Plains"  while  I  was  there  and  officiated  at  burials  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. Dr.  Peyton's  home,  Gordonsdale,  was  a  large,  hand- 
some residence,  and  the  yard  and  garden  were  beautiful.  There 
my  family  had  a  comfortable,  delightful  home  for  more  than  two 
years,  and  Dr.  Peyton  refused  to  make  any  charge  for  board. 

On  Sunday,  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  I  preached  for 
Rev.  "William  Meredith,  in  Winchester.  The  army  corps  under 
the  command  of  General  J.  E.  Johnston,  which  was  stationed  near 
Winchester  to  check  General  Patterson's  advance,  had  left  on 
Thursday  before  to  reinforce  General  Beauregard's  army  at  Bull 
Run.  This  movement  was  made  with  as  much  secrecy  as  possi- 
ble, and  it  was  not  until  the  army  had  marched  some  distance 
from  Winchester  that  General  Johnston  gave  them  a  short  and 
stirring  order.  "Soldiers  :  General  Beauregard  has  been  attacked 
at  Manassas  by  overwhelming  forces.  We  are  going  to  help  him. 
The  general  commanding  hopes  that  the  troops  will  step  out 
briskly,  keep  close  order,  and  by  a  forced  march  save  the 
country."  They  cheerfully  obeyed,  and  at  an  eventful  moment  in 
the  battle  a  cloud  of  dust  was  seen  on  the  western  horizon,  caus- 
ing anxiety  at  first  in  the  hearts  of  the  Confederates,  as  they 
feared  it  was  the  enemy,  soon  giving  place  to  every  demonstra- 


268  The  Conrad  Brothers. 

tion  of  joy.  I  arrived  after  they  left  Winchester.  We  heard  the 
canon  in  Winchester,  and  on  my  return  on  Monday  I  met  wagons 
containing  the  coffins  of  those  that  had  fallen  in  the  battle,  among 
them  young  Powell,  the  two  Conrads,  H.  Tucker  and  Holmes, 
only  sons  of  David  H.  Conrad,  of  Martinsburg,  who  had  been 
killed  only  fifteen  minutes  apart,  and  fell  near  ea  ti  other.  Tucker 
Conrad  was  a  student  in  our  Seminary  when  it  broke  up.  Their 
father  wrote  a  beautiful  inscription  for  the  stone  which  covers  the 
grave  where  they  lie  side  by  side.     One  verse  is  as  follows  : 

"  Brothers  ia  blood,  in  faith, 

Brothers  in  youthful  bloom. 
Brothers  in  life,  brothers  in  death, 

Brothers  in  one  same  tomb." 

One  of  the  Conrads  had  in  his  pocket  a  copy  of  the  hymn, 
"  One  Sweetly  Solemn  Thought. ' ' 

About  a  week  after,  I  went  to  the  camp  at  Manassas  to  see  my 
son  Joseph.  He,  and  afterwards  Walter,  belonged  to  the  Rock- 
bridge Battery,  under  Stonewall  Jackson.  I  slept  one  night  in 
my  son's  tent  on  the  soft  side  of  a  board.  It  was  the  custom  of 
this  company  to  have  prayers  at  the  dawn  of  day,  and  next  morn- 
ing I  was  asked  to  officiate  and  made  a  prayer.  It  was  too  early 
to  see  to  read.  The  scene  was  a  thrilling  one.  It  was  a  remark- 
able company,  composed  largely  of  college  and  theological  stu- 
dents. Mr.  If.  M.  Blackford  and  Rev.  Kinloch  Nelson  were  in 
the  company. 

Captain,  afterwards  General,  Pendleton,  my  old  Bristol  friend, 
and  the  former  rector  of  the  High  School,  took  me  to  the  field  of 
battle  and  pointed  out  the  position  of  the  troops  engaged,  and 
showed  me  the  spot  where  General  Bernard  Bee  was  killed,  who 
said  "  Th-re  is  Jackson,  standing  like  a  stone  wall."  A  battle- 
field is  like  any  other  field,  and  you  can  get  little  idea  of  the 
battle.  It  is  little  like  a  picture  of  a  battle.  I  saw  horses  lying 
unburied.  He  then  took  me  to  see  Gen.  Thomas  J.  Jackson 
at  his  headquarters.  He  was  an  intimate  friend  of  General 
Pendleton's  and  invited  us  to  dine  with  him.  He  had  himself 
been  wounded  slightly  in  the  hand  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run 
and  his  arm  was  in  a  sling.  He  stood  by  us  while  we  ate  our 
dinner  of  bacon  and  corn  bread,  spread  out  of  doors.  He  asked 
me  to  sketch  for  him  all  the  roads  to  Washington.  I  saw  him 
once  again,  the  24th  of  September  of  the  same  year,  when  I 
went  to  his  headquarters   at  sunrise   in    the   morning  to   get   a 


Gbnerai,  T.  J.  Jackson.  269 

furlough  for  my  son,  who  was  sick.  He  was  standing  by  a  fire 
out  of  doors  reading  his  Bible.  He  asked  me  to  stay  to  breakfast, 
but  I  was  anxious  to  get  away.  I  obtained  the  furlough  and  set 
out  with  my  son  to  return  to  Dr.  Peyton's.  The  distance  was 
long  and  we  were  belated,  and  only  got  to  Thoroughfare  Gap  at 
dark.  The  roads  were  the  worst  I  ever  saw,  my  horse  once  falling 
down  on  a  rocky  ledge  across  the  road,  and  the  night  was  so  dark 
I  could  not  see  my  way.  I  gave  the  reins  to  the  horse,  which 
brought  us  safely  home  at  last,  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles. 
Once  later  on  I  heard  Jackson  was  at  Port  Republic,  and  Nat 
Burwell  and  I  went  out  to  see  my  sons.  We  soon  met  men  re- 
turning, and  Jackson  was  on  his  way  to  Richmond.  They  never 
dreamed  he  was  going  until  he  was  there.  That  was  Stonewall 
Jackson's  way. 

Anything  about  Stonewall  Jackson,  the  Chrstian  soldier,  is  of 
interest,  and  I  give  this  fact  from  which  it  appears  that  he  was 
baptized  as  an  adult  and  by  an  Episcopal  minister. 

Jackson  was  baptized  at  old  St.  John's  Church,  at  Fort  Hamil- 
ton, and  the  records  contain  the  following  entry  :  "  On  Sunday, 
29th  of  April,  1849,  I  baptized  Thomas  Jonathan  Jackson,  major 
in  the  United  States  Army  ;  sponsors.  Cols.  Taylor  and  Dimmock, 
also  of  the  army."  The  baptismal  font  used  for  this  ceremony  is 
still  preserved. 

My  son  remembers  that  Jackson  came  round  early  one  morning 
and  looking  in  the  tent  gave  him  a  tract.  General  I^ee  gave  as 
many  prayer  books  as  he  could  get  to  his  soldier  friends.  When 
I  dined  with  General  Jackson  he  told  me  that  Bishop  Johns  had 
preached  for  his  men  not  long  before  and  he  had  asked  him  to 
preach  again  and  said  that  he  would  also  be  glad  to  have  Bishop 
Meade  preach  to  them.  Bishop  Johns  replied  that  he  was  afraid 
for  Bishop  Meade  to  go  near  Manassas  Junction  for  fear  he  would 
enlist,  such  was  his  enthusiasm  and  patriotism. 

I  add  a  letter  from  one  of  my  sons  written  about  this  time. 

*'  Camp  near  Centreville,  Va.,  November  5,  1861. 
"General  Jackson  left  us  on  Friday  last.  The  brigade  was 
drawn  up  in  close  order  to  see  him  off,  and  for  the  first  time  in 
his  life  he  made  a  speech.  He  spoke  of  our  having  been  with  him 
for  so  long  in  the  bivouac,  on  the  march,  on  the  battle  field, — 
reminded  us  that  we  had  a  fame  to  sustain  and  concluded  by 
hoping  that  as  we  were  the  First  Brigade  of  the  Army  of  the 
Shenandoah  and  the  First  Brigade  of  the  2nd  Corps,  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  so  we  might  be  the  First  Brigade  in  the  hearts  of  our 


270  A  War  Letter. 

countrymen,  in  this  second  wir  for  Independence.  A  great  deal 
of  feeling  was  shown  and  he  himself,  grim  and  cast-iron  looking 
as  he  is,  had  to  gallop  off  to  hide  his  emotion.  General  Jackson 
has  at  present  no  force  but  the  militia  and  is  very  anxious  to  have 
his  old  brigade  with  him.  Last  week  there  was  much  more  of 
the  '  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war  '  than  is  usual  in 
a  campaign.  Governor  Letcher  was  on  a  visit  to  the  camp  and 
all  the  regiments  were  put  in  trim  to  receive  him.  On  Tuesday 
evening  he  presented  flags  to  several  of  them,  after  which  there 
was  a  drill.  Artillery  drill  being  something  more  of  a  rarity 
than  infantry,  our  battery  attracted  nearly  all  the  attention  of  the 
assembly,  and  for  an  hour  we  had  some  of  the  severest  work  possi- 
ble. The  manoeuvers  were  performed  at  full  gallop — cannoneers 
not  mounted,  and  the  manual  drill  was  equally  rapid.  Johnston 
was  there  looking  as  he  always  does,  perfectly  splendid.  I  saw 
Smith  and  also  Beauregard,  who  it  struck  me  had  rather  a  sour 
and  sinister  expression,  of  which  I  afterward  had  an  explanation,  in 
the  rumor  of  his  quarrel  with  President  Davis  and  its  cause.  It  is 
said  that  he  sent  in  a  report  of  the  battle  of  Manassas  in  which  he 
arrogated  to  himself  and  the  far  Southerners  nearly  all  the  glory 
of  the  day,  not  even  mentioning  Jackson's  Virginia  Brigade,  but 
for  whose  steadfastness  he  would  inevitably  have  been  beaten 
before  re-inforcements  could  arrive.  The  next  day  the  sight  was 
even  more  splendid.  Thirteen  Virginia  regiments,  with  three 
batteries  were  reviewed,  altogether  making  the  most  imposing 
spectacle  I  ever  saw,  and  in  great  contrast  with  our  camp  life  of 
Friday  and  Saturday,  when  the  storm  blew  over  one-third  of  the 
tents  of  the  brigade,  and  we  as  usual  were  thoroughly  drenched." 

My  sou  Joseph  had  some  stories  to  tell  of  extraordinary  preach- 
ers whom  he  had  heard  or  whom  he  had  heard  of  during  the  war. 
One  of  these  preachers  had  been  in  charge  of  a  church  in  West 
Virginia  belonging  to  some  variety  of  the  Baptist  faith.  When 
the  Federal  soldiers  took  possession  of  that  neighborhood  they 
arrested  him  as  a  secessionist  and  took  him  to  Camp  Chase,  the 
prison  camp  in  Ohio.  After  a  time  he  was  released — perhaps  his 
sharp  tongue  helped — and  he  was  sent  within  the  Confederate 
lines.  Coming  to  Richmond,  he,  to  use  his  own  expression, 
"captured"  a  Unitarian  church  building,  whose  congregation 
had  been  scattered  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  held  forth 
there  regularly.  A  quartermaster  sergeant  in  the  command  to 
which  my  son  belonged  had  frequent  occasion  to  go  to  Richmond 
on  business  and  would  bring  back  to  the  camp  accounts  of  the 
discourses  of  this  gentleman,  particularly  of  his  denunciation  of 
the  Unitarians  to  which  he  would  soon  or  late  incline  in  nearly 
every  sermon,  by  way,  I  suppose,  of  purging  the  place  of  former 


Some  War  Preachers.  271 

infection.     On  one  of  these  occasions   he  thus   described   their 
destiny  : 

"  On  the  brazen  floors  of  perdition,  heated  to  a  seven-fold  hot- 
ness,  a  justly  offended  God  shall  fry  out  the  fat  of  their  spiritual 
pride  to  grease  the  gudgeons  of  hell." 

The  sergeant  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  preacher,  and 
learned  from  his  own  lips  the  account  of  an  incident  at  a  camp- 
meeting  in  which  he  had  figured.  While  preaching  earnestly,  a 
band  of  wild  young  men  tried  to  break  up  the  meeting.  Among 
other  things,  the  ringleader  crowed  like  a  rooster,  which  caused 
great  merriment  in  the  audience.  The  preacher  was  satisfied  that 
unless  he  could  stop  him  effectually  he  had  better  not  try, 
and  so,  in  order  to  give  himself  time  to  think,  he  said  mildly  to 
the  young  man,  "  Crow  again."  The  young  man  was  somewhat 
taken  aback,  but  crowed  as  before,  though  perhaps  not  quite  so 
lustily.  The  preacher  said  firmly,  "Crow  again,"  Not  to  be 
laughed  at,  the  young  man  crowed  once  more,  but  rather  feebly. 
By  this  time  the  preacher  was  ready.  Rising  to  his  full  height, 
and  shaking  his  finger  at  the  culprit,  he  thundered  out  :  "'  Crow 
again,  you  rooster  of  hell  !  God  Almighty  shall  rivet  your  beak 
to  the  anvil  of  damnation  and  slather  out  your  brains  with  the 
sledge-hammers  of  his  wrath.  Now,  crow  again!".  Needless 
to  add,  there  was  no  more  crowing.  "  Mr.  C,"  said  the  Sergeant, 
"  that  word  slather  seems  to  be  a  very  fine  word,  though  I  don't 
remember  that  I  ever  heard  it  before."  "  Why,  yes,"  said  C,  "I 
think  it  covers  the  ground." 

John  Augustine  Washington,  a  colonel  on  General  Lee's  staff, 
with  W.  H.  F.  L,ee  went  on  a  scouting  expedition  in  West  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  was  killed  in  September,  1861,  and  the  body  was 
brought  home  for  burial  at  his  place,  Waveland,  Fauquier 
county.  He  had  been  my  pupil  at  Bristol  College  and  it  was  my 
sad  duty  to  announce  his  death  to  his  children.  I  officiated  at 
his  burial  at,  noon  on  Saturday,  September  21,  1861,  and  the 
address  I  made  was  taken  down  by  my  niece,  Anne  I^ee  Peyton. 
"  O  Death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  Grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  " 
This  language  startles  us  when  we  look  around  us  and  see  what 
the  sting  of  death  is  and  what  is  the  victory  of  the  grave.  Is  not 
death  the  last  enemy  whom  we  cannot  conquer,  nor  flee  from  ? 
Is  there  not  a  sting  in  the  pains,  the  groans,  the  dying  strife  ?  Is 
there  not  a  sting  in  the  separation  of  death,  in  the  leaving  a  help- 
less family  to  grope  their  way  through  a  cold  and  selfish  world, 


272  John  Augustine  Washington. 

when  eyes  that  watched  over  them  with  ceaseless  care  and  hands 
that  toiled  for  them  are  laid  low  ?  Is  there  not  a  sting  in  the 
weakness  of  death,  in  the  failure  of  the  strength  of  body  and 
vigor  of  mind  ?  And  is  there  not  a  victory  of  the  grave  to  be  seen 
everywhere  ?  You  cannot  go  to  the  lonely  glen  in  the  mountains 
without  seeing  the  monuments  of  its  victory.  Is  there  not  a  vic- 
tory where  the  foe  is  defeated  and  trampled  in  the  dust  and  a 
monument  erected  in  triumph  on  the  battlefield  ?  How  then  can 
the  Apostle  use  such  language  as  this  ?  It  was  in  looking  for- 
ward to  the  resurrection,  where  the  bodies  sown  as  seed  in  the 
ground  should  come  forth  the  same  bodies  in  all  that  is  necessary 
to  constitute  sameness,  though  greatly  changed,  as  much  as  the 
green  blade  is  different  from  the  dark  unsightly  seed  sown  in  the 
earth. 

Were  it  not  for  the  light  which  the  Gospel  sheds  over  the  world 
to  come,  what  clouds  and  darkness  would  hang  over  the  close  of 
life,  how  should  we  sorrow  as  those  without  hope,  as  we  bade  an 
everlasting  adieu  to  our  departed  friends  !  But  blessed  be  God  ! 
in  the  light  of  the  Gospel — 

"  On  the  cold  cheek  of  death  smiles  and  roses  are  blooming 
And  beauty  immortal  awakes  from  the  tomb." 

While  the  Gospel  does  not  gratify  our  curiosity,  while  it  main- 
tains a  wise  and  solemn  reserve  as  to  the  future  condition  of  the 
departed,  it  gives  us  all  the  information  necessary  for  us.  We  need 
not  now  ask  the  question,  man  giveth  up  the  ghost,  and  where  is 
he?  If  he  was  a  righteous  man  he  has  gbne  to  his  Father's  house 
in  heaven  ;  if  wicked,  revelation  lifts  a  corner  of  the  veil  that 
hides  the  impenetrable  future,  and  we  see  him  in  a  place  of  torment 
lifting  up  his  eyes  and  begging  in  vain  for  the  slightest  relief  and 
mitigation  of  his  suffering,  for  a  drop  of  cold  watrr  to  cool  his 
tongue.  Jesus  has  stood  forth  at  the  grave  of  L,azarus,  and  with 
such  words  as  never  fell  from  human  lips,  has  said  :  "  I  am  the 
Resurrection  and  the  Life  ;  "  "He  that  believeth  in  me  though 
he  were  dead  yet  shall  he  live  and  whoever  liveth  and  believeth 
in  me  shall  never  die." 

We  are  assembled,  dear  friends,  on  an  occasion  of  no  ordinary 
solemnity.  Death  is  always  solemn,  whether  it  comes  to  the  infant 
of  days  or  to  the  old  man  of  years,  who  goes  down  to  the  grave 
like  a  shock  of  corn  in  its  season.  Death  has  stricken  down  in  the 
midst  of  life  one  who  has  occupied  a  conspicuous  station  in  this 


A  FuNBRAL  Address.  273 

neighborhood  and  in  this  country  ;  one  who  was  respected  and 
loved  by  all  who  knew  him.  I  need  not  tell  you  how  noble  and 
generous  and  high-minded  he  was,  how  exemplary  and  ten- 
der and  aflfectionate  in  his  domestic  relations.  I  cannot  speak  of 
this  with  delicacy  here.  I  need  not  tell  you  how  brave  and 
self-sacrificing  he  was.  In  the  beginning  of  the  struggle  in 
which  we  are  now  engaged,  he  resolved,  though  many  considera- 
tions might  have  kept  him  back,  to  devote  himself  to  the  service 
of  his  country.  He  offered  his  services  and  was  appointed  to  a 
post,  which  it  was  fitting  that  one  who  bore  his  name  vShould  fill, 
and  to  the  duties  of  his  office  he  devoted  himself  with  untiring 
assiduity  and  without  respite.  What  his  feelings  in  engaging  in  his 
country's  service  were  1  will  give  you  in  his  own  words  in  a  letter  to 
his  family  :  "  While  I  think  and  hope  that  we  shall  be  successful, 
yet  of  course  there  is  no  telling  who  will  fall  in  the  efforts  we  are 
about  making.  I  am  just  as  likely  to  be  one  of  them  as  any  one 
else,  and  I  can  only  say,  that  if  God  so  wills  it  I  hope  I  am  ready 
to  lay  down  my  life,  and  to  sacrifice  all  I  have  in  the  just  and  sacred 
cause  in  which  I  am  embarked.  I  think,  and  if  I  understand 
myself,  I  know  that  I  am  perfectly  willing,  if  need  be,  to  die  for 
this  cause,  and  sooner  than  see  it  fail,  had  rather  that  myself  and 
children  aud  all  that  I  hold,  were  swept  from  existence.  For 
myself,  I  have  no  fear  ;  for  should  my  life  be  lost  it  is  only  antici- 
pating by  a  few  years  what  must  happen  at  any  rate.  The  whole 
matter  is  in  the  hands  of  God,  who  will  do  with  me  as  seems  best 
to  him." 

What  noble  words — worthy  to  be  inscribed  on  his  monument. 
Never  I  have  read  words  more  expressive  of  the  noblest  patriotism. 
With  such  men  our  cause  must  and  will  succeed.  He  fell  a 
blessed  martyr  in  the  holy  and  sacred  cause  of  his  country.  He 
felt  that  there  were  interests  dearer  than  life,  and  cheaply  pur- 
chased by  its  sacrifice  ;  that  it  was  better  to  die  than  to  be  trampled 
under  the  iron  heel  of  despotism  and  to  have  the  last  spark  of 
liberty  extinguished  ;  that  it  was  the  low  aud  base  maxim  of 
Satan  that  "  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life,"  while 
Jesus  has  said  "  He  that  loseth  his  life  shall  save  it,"  which  may 
be  applied  in  a  lower  sense  to  our  temooral  interests. 

But  the  great  question,  concerning  every  man  who  passes  out 
of  this  world  compared  with  which  all  others  sink  into  insignifi- 
cance, is  :  Is  he  prepared  to  meet  his  God  ?  Has  he  experienced 
that  great  change  without  which  no  man  can  enter  heaven — that 


274  A  FuNERAiv  Address. 

change  from  a  prayerless  to  a  prayerful  life,  which  is  wrought  in 
the  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  Has  he  repented  truly  of  sin  and 
believed  and  obeyed  the  Gospel  ? 

Our  departed  brother  was  blessed  with  the  prayers  and  counsel 
of  a  pious  mother,  which  is  the  greatest  earthly  blessing.  He 
had  times  of  religious  feeling,  but  it  was  not  till  within  a  year 
past,  since  the  death  of  his  wife,  that  he  gave  evidence  of  any 
change  of  heart.  Since  that  time  he  was  an  earnest  and  attentive 
listener  in  the  house  of  God,  whether  in  the  church  of  his  fathers, 
or  in  other  churches,  and  contributed  liberally  towards  the  support 
of  the  gospel.  After  the  death  of  his  wite,  he  began  family  prayers 
to  which  he  attached  great  importance,  and  the  last  time  he 
was  at  home,  he  knelt  down  with  his  family  and  prayed  with 
them  all.  Little  did  they  think  that  they  should  see  his  face  no 
more  !  In  his  last  letter,  written  the  week  before  his  death,  he 
enjoined  family  prayers  (underscoring  the  words  morning  and 
evening),  upon  his  children  and  pressed  them  to  ask  wisdom  of 
God  in  the  great  exigencies  of  life. 

And  now  what  remains  but  to  say  to  each  one  present,  how 
many  warnings  have  you  had  to  make  it  the  great  business  of 
a  life  to  prepare  for  a  dying  hour  !  There  is  an  enemy  in  your 
path,  whom  you  cannot  conquer,  with  whom  you  can  make  no 
compromise,  from  whom  you  cannot  flee.  You  must  now  put  on  the 
whole  armour  of  God,  the  shield  of  faith,  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
the  helmet  of  salvation.  So  you  shall  be  prepared  for  that  world 
where  there  is  no  confused  noise  of  battle,  no  garments  rolled  in 
blood,  no  shouting  of  the  captains,  but  where  all  is  peace, 
blessed  peace,  which  may  God  of  His  infinite  mercy  grant  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 

In  December  of  the  year  1861  it  was  thought  best  by  the  Trus- 
tees to  continue  the  Seminary  in  Staunton,  Virginia.  Dr.  Spar- 
row and  myself  were  the  only  professors.  Dr.  May  had  gone  to 
Philadelphia.  Going  over,  I  stopped  at  Sperryville,  and  some 
young  people  being  present  I  proposed  we  should  have  prayers 
and  singing,  and  we  had  a  pleasant  service.  We  began  with  four 
or  five  students  that  year,  but  they  were  gradually  reduced  to  one. 
Every  young  man  over  eighteen  years  of  age  was  drafted  for  or 
enlisted  in  the  army. 

While  at  Staunton  I  was  hospitably  entertained  in  the  delight- 
ful family  of  Dr.  Stribling,  who  was  the  Superintendent  of  the 
Insane  Asylum,  and  I  can  never  forget  the  kindness  of  him  and 


I^iFE  AT  Staunton.  275 

his  family  to  me.  His  house  was  in  no  way  connected  with  the 
Asylum.  Such  was  his  sagacity  and  prudence  that  no  one  has  ever 
surpassed  him  as  Superintendent  of  the  Insane  Asylum.  He  had 
a  very  costly  silver  vase  presented  to  him  by  the  State,  I  think, 
as  a  testimonial  to  his  services.  He  used  to  invite  those  who  were 
of  the  milder  cases  of  melancholy  to  his  table  sometimes.  No 
one  would  ever  suspect  them  of  mental  aberration.  I  think  it  was 
after  I  left  that  he  came  near  being  killed  by  a  patient  in  the  Asy- 
lum. The  man  wounded  his  arm  with  a  shoemaker's  knife,  and 
he  came  near  dying. 

Christmas  of  1861,  while  in  Staunton,  I  was  sent  for  to  L,exing- 
ton  to  preach,  and  stayed  several  days  at  General  Smith's.  I 
went  in  the  stage,  and  we  crossed  the  James  River  with  difficulty, 
as  there  were  very  large  stones  in  the  river  at  the  crossing.  After 
a  rain  it  was  unfordable. 

Doctor,  afterwards  Bishop  Quintard,  then  chaplain  to  General 
Loring's  brigade,  which  was  stationed  there,  stayed  a  number  of 
weeks  at  Dr.  Stribling's  while  I  was  there,  and  I  became  quite 
intimate  with  him.  At  a  meeting  of  bishops  in  Washington, 
fifteen  came  down  to  the  Seminary,  among  them  Bishop  Quin- 
tard. He  embraced  me  warmly  and  said  to  me,  "we  fought  and 
bled  together."  I  stayed  in  Staunton  from  December  until  May, 
1862,  when  I  rejoined  my  family  at  Dr.  Peyton's.  Dr.  Sparrow 
taught  the  Seminary  in  Halifax  county  for  a  few  months,  then 
returned  to  Staunton  and  taught  there  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

In  his  last  class  were  Randolph  H.  McKim,  who  for  two  and 
a  half  years  had  followed  Jackson,  first  as  private,  then  as  stajBf 
officer,  and  after  seven  months  with  Dr.  Sparrow,  re-entered  the 
army  as  chaplain  ;  William  F.  Gardner,  who  had  received  five 
wounds  in  the  service  ;  Edward  H.  Ingle  and  James  A.  Mitchell, 
who  have  always  done  faithful  service. 

As  I  was  returning  from  Staunton  in  May,  1862,  I  met  with  an 
accident.  In  consequence  ot  excessive  rains  the  roads  had 
become  very  muddy — impassable  in  places.  There  were  many 
cut-oflfs,  where  the  traveller  could  go  out  in  a  by-road  and  avoid 
the  worst  places.  I  had  not  observed  one,  when  my  carriage 
got  stuck  in  a  quagmire  and  the  horse,  in  trying  !to  get  it  out, 
broke  the  whiffle-tree.  No  house  was  near  and  I  knew  not 
what  to  do,  until  a  gentleman  passing  on  horseback  told  me 
there  was  a  blacksmith  about  a  mile  ahead.  I  took  the  frag- 
ments of  the  whiffle-tree  in  my  hand  and  walked  to  the  black- 


276  Life  in  Fauquier. 

smith's.  Just  as  I  got  there  I  saw,  getting  on  his  horse,  Mr, 
Charles  Sto via,  at  whose  house  in  Fauquier  county  I  had  stayed, 
and  who  had  moved  without  my  knowledge  to  lyiberty  Mills, 
near  which  the  accident  occurred.  He  invited  me  to  his  house 
and  sent  a  strong  horse  to  extricate  my  carriage.  I  remained 
with  him  during  a  rain  of  three  days'  continuance.  He  was  the 
grandfather  of  Rev.  Charles  J.  Stovin  Mayo,  of  Hyattsville, 
Maryland. 

In  June  of  that  year  I  drove  with  my  wife  from  Fauquier  to 
Washington.  We  stopped  by  at  the  Seminary  and  entered  our 
house,  which  was  occupied  by  the  bakers  and  their  families.  My 
wife  went  to  open  her  wardrobe  to  see  if  any  of  her  property  was 
left,  but  was  not  allowed  to  do  so.  I  spent  several  days  in  Wash- 
ington at  my  brother's-in-law.  Dr.  Thomas  Miller's.  I  carried 
back  with  me  valuable  medicines  to  Dr.  Peyton.  I  came  and 
went  without  molestation.  Sometimes  the  way  was  open  and 
then  again  the  lines  were  shut  down. 

Richmond  had  been  invested  in  June,  1862,  by  General  McClel- 
lan,  and  General  Jackson  left  the  Valley  to  reinforce  the  army  for 
the  defense  of  Richmond.  Then  followed  the  seven  days'  battles, 
which  compelled  McClellan  to  relinquish  the  investment  of  Rich- 
mond and  move  twenty  miles  below  to  Harrison's  Landing.  As 
I  could  hear  nothing  from  my  sons,  who  were  in  Jackson's  army, 
all  mail  communication  being  suspended,  I  resolved  to  go  in 
search  of  them.  I  went  as  far  as  Culpeper  in  my  one-horse  car- 
riage, and  left  my  horse  at  Rev.  John  Cole's  and  went  by  rail  to 
Richmond.  I  found  my  eldest  son,  Walter,  at  the  house  of  Rev. 
Joshua  Peterkin.  His  house  was  the  asylum  of  sick  soldiers  aud 
refugees,  and  he  and  Mrs.  Peterkin  were  never  weary  of  minister- 
ing to  them.  I  found  my  son  indisposed,  which  I  ascribed  to  the 
fatigue  of  the  incessant  marchings  of  the  seven-days'  battle.  I 
little  dreamt  that  he  was  then  in  the  first  stage  of  typhoid  fever, 
which  terminated  fatally  after  a  few  weeks  at  Airwell,  the  home 
of  Mr.  Callender  Noland,  in  Hanover,  where  he  had  taught 
school  before  the  war.  I  never  saw  him  again.  He  was  buried 
at  Airwell.  He  had  been  for  some  years  a  communicant  of  the 
Church. 

General  Pendleton  lent  me  an  ambulance  and  driver  to  go  to 
the  battlefield,  in  search  of  my  son  Joseph.  I  saw  the  White  Oak 
swamp  of  Chickahominy,  through  which  McClellan  pa.ssed  on  his 
retreat.     It  might  have  been  a  week  or  a  fortnight  after  the  battle. 


A  Dangerous  Experikncd.  277 

The  swamp  was  a  continent  of  mud.  The  roads  were  ren- 
dered almost  impassable  by  the  deep  ruts  made  by  the  artillery. 
The  mud  forts  everywhere  and  the  many  marks  of  the  battles 
attracted  my  attention.  I  remember  seeing  the  corpse  of  a  man 
unburied  in  an  out-of-the-way  place.  On  my  return  I  could  only 
get  as  far  by  rail  as  Orange  Court  House,  twenty  miles  from  Cul- 
peper.  I  could  not  obtain  there  any  horse  or  guide.  General 
Pope's  army  occupied  the  whole  country  between  the  Rapidan  and 
Culpeper.  I  stayed  over  Sunday  at  Orange  Court  House  and 
preached  there. 

I   was  obliged   to  walk  the  whole   distance   between  Orange 
Court  House  and  Culpeper,  twenty  miles.     I  set  out  with  a  good 
courage  but  with  an   anxious  heart.     The  whole   country^was 
desolate— houses   deserted,    fences    broken    down.     I   remember 
seeing  but  one  house  occupied  on  the  way,  and  that  was  by  a 
vvoman,  until  I   arrived  within  three  miles  of  Culpeper,  when  I 
was  arrested  by  pickets.     I  had.  tied  up  in  a  bandanna  handker- 
chief with  other  things,  some  letters,  which  had  been  entrusted 
to  me   by   Mrs.   Robert  E.    I.ee  and  Captain  Elijah  White  and 
'Others.     I  was  carried  by  the  pickets  to  the  Provost's  at  Culpeper 
Court  House.     As  we  passed  Rev.   Mr.   Cole's  house  I  threw  the 
handkerchief  into  his  yard.    His  house  was  full  of  parishioners,  for 
he  expected  next  day  to  be  sent  to  the  Old  Capitol  prison,  which, 
however,  did  not  take  place.     There  was  a  providence  about  it,' 
for  the  letters  would  have  compromised  me  had  I  been  searched'. 
The  Provost  gave  me  a  pass,  which  enabled  me  to  go  to  Fauquier. 
I  had  preached  shortly  before  at  Orange,  so  I  was  thought  in- 
nocuous.    I  passed  a  day  at  Mr.  Cole's  house  and  then  went  on 
my  way  in  my  carriage.     Pope's  army  was  on  the  retreat  and  I 
passed  all  day  through  it,  but  was  not  much  molested.     Soldiers 
would  get  on  the  back  of  my  carriage  to  rest  themselves  awhile. 
I  said  nothing  to  theoi.     I  crossed  the  Rappahannock  by  a  pou- 
toon  bridge.     I  found  Warrenton,  which  was  on  my   way,  pick- 
eted by  Union  troops,  who  allowed  me  to  pass  to  the  hospitable 
house  of  Rev.  Dr.  Barten,  who  warmly  welcomed  me.     In  War- 
renton they  heard  with  amazement  of  my  journey,  as  no  one  had 
been  able  to  get  through   the  lines  of  Pope,  and  it  was  thought 
impossible. 

When  I  reached  Dr.  Peyton's  I  heard  of  Walter's  illness,  and 
though  two  of  my  young  children  had  typhoid  fever  I  felt  con- 
strained to  leave  them  and  go  to  Mr.  Noland's,  in  Hanover,  where 
18 


278  Death  of  Two  Children. 

he  was  sick.  I  was  compelled  to  go  by  the  Valley,  because  the 
Union  army  occupied  the  usual  route.  I  left  my  carriage  at  Dr. 
Cochran's,  in  Middleburg,  and  set  off  on  horseback  for  the  long 
journey  with  an  anxious  heart.  Though  Front  Royal  was  occu- 
pied by  the  Union  troops,  there  was  a  way  through  the  woods, 
which  was  much  traveled  to  avoid  them,  especially  by  people  from 
Maryland.  I  found  hospitable  entertainment  on  the  road  at  pri- 
vate houses,  especially  at  Mr.  Ott's,  at  Mt.  Jackson,  and  Mr. 
Gray's,  at  Harrisonburg.  When  I  arrived  at  Gordonsville  I 
heard  of  Walter's  death  and  turned  back.  Not  a  few  tears  I  shed 
on  my  sorrowful  journey.    ' 

In  October,  1862,  my  little  daughter  Kate  was  attacked  by  the 
scarlet  fever,  and  died  after  two  days'  illness. 

On  Thursday  I  took  her  out  driving,  apparently  perfectly  well, 
and  much  pleased  with  the  chinquapins  I  got  for  her.  On  Satur- 
day she  died. 

"She  came,  and  passed.     Can  I  forget 

How  we  whose  hearts  had  hailed  her  birth. 
Ere  six  autumnal  suns  had  set 
Consigned  her  to  her  Mother  Earth  ? 

Joys  and  their  memories  pass  awaj'. 
But  griefs  are  deeper  ploughed  than  they. 
We  laid  her  in  her  narrow  cell, 

We  heaped  the  soft  mould  on  her  breast, 
And  parting  tears,  like  raindrops,  fell 
Upon  her  lonely  place  of  rest." 

At  Andover  there  is  a  stone  in  memory  of  the  child  of  a  pro- 
fessor with  this  inscription :  "  Is  it  well  with  the  child  ?  It  is  well. ' ' 
General  Jones  used  to  call  her  "the  maid  with  the  lint  white 
locks ;  "  her  hair  was  white  and  her  eyes  black. 

While  in  Fauquier  county  at  Dr.  Peyton's,  I  occasionally  went 
over  to  Leesburg,  where  I  had  two  brothers-in-law,  Henry  T.  and 
Matthew  Harrison.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  the  Presbyterian  min- 
ister, told  me  that  his  valuable  horse  had  been  stolen  by  some  of 
the  Union  soldiers  at  Poolesville,  Maryland,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Potomac  river.  He  had  been  preaching  regularly  there  and 
told  me  that  he  knew  the  ford  of  the  Potomac  river  at  Edwards' 
Ferry,  and  proposed  to  me  to  accompany  him.  We  crossed  the 
river  in  my  carriage  and  found  a  large  force  on  the  other  side. 
They  had  been  sent  to  intercept  Gen.  J.  E.  B.  Stuart's  army 
on  his  return  from  his  raid  around  the  Union  army,  and  when  we 


A  Serious  Ii^lness.  279 

got  there  they  were  singing  "John  Brown's  body  lies  a  mould'r- 
ing  in  the  grave,"  &c.  We  were  carried  by  soldiers  to  General 
Stoneman's  headquarters  at  Poolesville.  General  Stoneman  was 
an  old  United  States  officer,  and  knew  my  friends  in  Washington. 
He  treated  us  civilly,  and  sent  us  back  to  the  river  crossing  in  an 
ambulance,  first  allowing  me  to  do  my  shopping  in  Poolesville, 
which  was  very  important,  as  I  could  get  things  there  which  could 
not  be  gotten  in  Leesburg  or  in  the  Confederate  lines,  there  being 
a  great  scarcity  of  everything.  On  my  return,  as  we  forded  the 
river  my  horse  became  frantic  in  the  current  and  I  got  a  good 
ducking. 

In  the  fall  of  1862  I  was  attacked  with  an  indolent  tumor  or 
carbuncle  in  my  right  shoulder.     It  was  removed,  and  it  assumed 
a  threatening  appearance.    I  know  what  it  is  to  be  under  sentence 
of  death,  for  I  believed  it  to  be  cancerous,  and  it  seemed  as  if  all 
the  permitted  space  must  be  lived  after  a  warning.     During  the 
winter  I  went  down  to  Washington  by  the  roundabout  way  of  the 
Point  of  Rocks  to  consult  my  brother-in-law,  Dr.  Thomas  Miller, 
who  was  an  eminent  physician  and  surgeon,  and  one  of  the  noblest 
men  in  the  world.     I  had  the  benefit  of  the  best  surgeons  in  con- 
sultation— Dr.  Stone  and   Dr.  Frederick   May — and  my  arm  was 
operated  upon.    A  cyst  had  formed,  and  the  pus   had  burrowed 
under  the  tissues  to  the  spine.     There  was  no  sign  of  cancer,  but 
the  sinuses  had  to  be  laid  open,  a  very  painful  operation — more  so, 
Dr.  May  said,  than  cutting  oflF  an  arm.    I  took  no  anaesthetic,  and 
the  doctors  said  I  bore  it  with   fortitude.     I  can  recall  now  the 
knife  cutting  its  way  through  the  flesh.    I  was  very  much  reduced 
in  health  and  spirits  by  this  trouble,  and  my  arm  became  perma- 
nently stiffened,  and,  after  falling  and  breaking  it  at  the  elbow 
in   1883,  it  was  amputated  at  the  shoulder,  June  5,  1884,  by  my 
cousin,  Dr.  John  H.  Packard,  of  Philadelphia,  assisted  by  others, 
at  the  Providence  Hospital,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Dr.  Miller  was  a  splendid  looking  man,  six  feet  two  inches  tall, 
straight  as  an  arrow,  graceful  and  easy  in  manner.  His  appear- 
ance attracted  all  and  his  character  and  noble  nature  held  his 
friends.  He  was  one  of  the  greatest  physicians  of  his  day,  and 
was  sent  for  to  the  western  cities  in  consultation.  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  was  a  devoted  friend  and  he  attended  him  all  through 
his  last  illness  in  Chicago.  He  was  for  twenty  years  Professor  of 
Anatomy  at  Columbia  Medical  College  and  was  called  "the 
Nestor  of  the  profession  in  the  District."     The   kindness  of  Dr. 


28o  Dr.  Thomas  Miller. 

Miller  and  his  family  to  me  and  mine  can  never  be  forgotten, 
and  I  count  it  an  honor  to  have  been  the  friend  of  such  a  noble 
man. 

His  house  during  the  war  was  the  scene  of  hospitality  and 
generous  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  South  and  nothing  was 
thought  too  great  to  be  done  for  the  Southern  soldiers  in  the  old 
Capitol  prison.  His  house,  1331  F  Street,  now  replaced  by  a 
modern  building,  was  an  historic  house,  having  belonged  to  Dr. 
Wilham  Thornton,  then  in  1845  bought  by  Dr.  Miller,  and  leased 
to  .some  of  the  eminent  men  of  that  time. 

While  at  Dr.  Miller's  I  attended  the  Lent  services  held  by 
Doctor,  afterwards  Bishop  Pinkney,  who  conducted  them  with 
great  edification.  We  worshipped  in  a  hall,  as  Ascension  Church 
was  used  as  a  hospital.  Dr.  Miller's  house  was  visited  occasion- 
ally by  the  Union  oflEicers.  One  of  them  related  some  anecdotes 
of  President  Lincoln.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  informally 
the  different  offices  connected  with  the  army,  and  was  on  very 
free-and-easy  terms  with  the  officers.  On  one  occasion,  as  an 
officer  sat  with  his  back  to  the  door,  he  heard  some  one  enter, 
and  said,  "  Is  that  you,  John  ? "  supposing  it  was  the  messenger. 
He  answered,  "  No,  siree  !  It  is  Abraham  Lincoln  and  nothing 
shorter."  On  another  occasion  he  visited  an  office  and  a  plate  of 
peaches  was  on  the  table.  He  took  three  and  said,  "  I  always 
was  a  hog  on  peaches. ' ' 

I  used  sometimes  to  go  to  the  Capitol  steps,  from  which  I 
could  see  the  cupola  of  the  Seminary,  on  which  I  looked  with 
sadness.  All  was  a  dark  and  gloomy  prospect.  After  about 
three  months'  stay  at  Dr.  Miller's  hospitable  home,  I  went  down 
to  Alexandria,  where  my  family  soon  joined  me.  I  occupied  for 
a  time  the  parsonage  of  Christ  Church,  which  had  been  the  prop- 
erty of  my  wife's  grandfather,  Charles  Lee,  and  where  her  mother 
was  married.  Later  I  was  dislodged  by  a  military  order.  I  found 
that  Christ  Church  was  used  by  the  soldiers,  of  whom  there  were 
several  thousand  in  Alexandria,  the  chaplains  of  the  army  preach- 
ing, the  few  Union  men  of  Alexandria  also  attending.  St.  Paul's 
Church  was  used  as  a  hospital.  I  held  divine  service  in  Odd- 
Fellows'  Hall,  on  Columbus  street,  which  on  some  pretext  was 
soon  taken  away  from  us.  I  then  preached  and  administered  the 
Lord's  Supper  in  Liberty  Hall,  which  I  could  only  get  one  after- 
noon a  month,  as  the  Baptists  had  it.  The  congregation  was 
very  interesting,  as  it  was  made  up  from  all  the  churches  in  town, 


My  Arrest.  281 

and  four  of  my  communicants  were  more  than  eighty  years  old. 
There  was  a  remarkable  unity  of  feeling  among  them.  The 
common  trial  brought  all  in  sympathy  together.  The  town  was 
under  martial  law,  which  was  rigidly  enforced.  No  one  could 
go  out  of  it  in  any  direction  without  a  pass.  On  one  occasion  I 
went  in  a  sail-boat  to  Washington  with  Robert  Wheat  to  consult 
Dr.  Miller.  The  boat  was  seized  as  soon  as  we  had  left  it,  and  I 
had  to  come  back  by  land,  acting  as  driver  to  Mrs.  H.  E.  Caze- 
nove,  who  got  a  pass  for  a  driver. 

On  my  return  I  was  arrested  by  order  of  Provost- Marshal 
Wells,  who  kept  me  three  hours  in  his  office,  and  sent  me  under 
guard  of  two  soldiers  out  of  the  lines,  which  were  then  at  Fairfax 
Court  House.  From  Fairfax  Station  to  the  Court  House  I  rode  in 
a  stage,  escorted  by  a  troop  of  cavalry  to  keep  off  Mosby's  men. 
Henry  Winter  Davis,  whom  I  knew  well,  went  immediately  to 
Secretary  Stanton,  for  Captain  Booth,  of  Alexandria,  had  kindly 
gone  to  Washington  and  told  Davis,  and  the  order  was  counter- 
manded. I  spent  but  one  night  at  the  Court  House,  where  I  slept 
on  the  floor  with  a  soldier  on  each  side  of  me.  I  came  back  in  a 
snow  storm. 

My  arrest  caused  a  great  excitement  among  my  friends  in 
town,  and  I  received  a  great  deal  of  kindness.  Mr.  Robert 
Miller,  whom  I  only  knew  slightly,  came  that  night  and  gave  me 
fifty  dollars. 

I  always  feel  under  great  obligation  to  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  G. 
Addison.  During  the  summer  of  that  year  he  kindly  invited  me 
to  join  a  party  which  was  going  to  Lake  Superior.  We  left  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  with  a  large  party  on  board  a  fine  steamer  and  went 
through  Lake  Huron,  where  we  encountered  a  severe  storm  in  the 
midst  of  the  lake.  We  passed  through  Lake  St.  Clair — stopped 
at  Detroit.  At  Houghton  we  stopped  to  see  the  mines.  It  was 
then  a  small  village.  At  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  commonly  called  the 
Soo,  we  saw  the  rapids  of  .some  fift}^  feet,  i^y  which  the  waters  of 
Lake  Superior  discharge  themselves.  Our  vessel  was  lifted  up  to 
the  level  of  Lake  Superior,  by  locks  of  immense  size,  to  accom- 
modate the  largest  vessels.  The  scenery  of  Lake  Superior  has 
been  often  described  by  Schoolcraft  and  others.  Schoolcraft 
speaks  of  the  pictured  rocks.  One  can  see  cathedrals,  or  any- 
thing you  please  in  them  ;  and  the  sand  hills  are  three  hundred 
feet  high.  The  shores  are  unfit  for  cultivation,  as  they  are  cov- 
ered with  a  stunted  growth  of  beech  and  fir,  and  are  sterile  and 


282  A  Trip  on  the  Lakes. 

rocky.  The  climate  is  inhospitable  and  we  did  not  see  a  house 
for  fifty  miles.  Our  vessel  lay  off  at  Ontonagon,  as  there  was  no 
harbor  there,  to  take  on  immense  masses  of  copper  ore,  some  of 
them  weighing  6,000  pounds,  to  be  carried  to  Detroit  to  be  smelted. 
Ontonagon  is,  I  believe,  the  most  famous  place  for  copper  mining 
in  the  United  States.  A  large  piece  of  pure  native  copper  from 
there  is  to  be  seen  at  the  National  Museum  in  Washington.  I 
found  a  missionary  at  Ontonagon,  who  told  me  that  the  lake  froze 
over  in  November  and  the  ice  did  not  break  up  until  June.  The 
climate  is  too  cold  to  raise  corn.  You  would  never  know  that 
any  war  was  going  on,  except  you  would  hear  everywhere  pa- 
triotic songs  sung.     Rev.  Mr.  Woods  was  with  us. 

In  November  of  the  year  1863  my  son  William  died  at  Point 
Lookout,   on  the    Potomac.     He  was,   while   convalescing    from 
dysentery  at  Dr.  Peyton's,  taken  prisoner  and  carried  to  the  Old 
Capitol  prison  in  Washington.     Passing  along  the  street  he  sert 
a  note  to  Dr.  Miller,  "lama  prisoner  at  the  Old  Capitol.  W.  Pack- 
ard."    And  so  we  heard  of  it.     There  his  mother  was  permitted 
to  see  him  twice  for  a  few  minutes.     He  was  sent  from  the  Old 
Capitol  to  Point  Lookout,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Potomac,  where 
there  was  a  very  large  number  of  prisoners.     There  he  died  of 
typhoid  fever,  caused  by  neglect  of  the  commonest  principles  of 
];ealth.     His  mother  visited  him  there  ;  and  at  the  same  time, 
William  H.  Laird,  who  married  my  daughter  Rosa  in  1869,  was  a 
prisoner,  and  his  mother  was  visiting  him,  and  they  heard  of  my 
son  Willie  and  his  mother.     My  kind  friend,  John  R.  Zimmerman, 
of  Alexandria,  was  a  prisoner  there  also,  and  in  his  diary  speaks 
of  my  son.     He  had  written  to  his  mother  to  send  him  a  Bible,  as 
he  had  only  a  Testament,  while  in  the  army.     His  nurse  wrote 
word,  "  Everybody  loved  Willie."     He  sent  me  word  that  "he 
did  not  feel  afraid  to  die,"  that  "God  was  his  Father  and  Jesus 
his  precious  Saviour,"  and  "he  trusted  his  family  would  all  meet 
him  in  heaven."     He  told  his  nurse  that  "  his  parents  had  taught 
him  the  way  of  salvation."     Though  a  prisoner,  and  though  his 
eyes  missed,  while  dying,  familiar  faces,  yet  Jesus  was  with  him 
and  soothed  his  last  hours.     My  kind  friends  in  Alexandria  sent 
an  undertaker  to  Point  Lookout  and  had  his  body  brought  up  and 
we  looked  again  upon  his  face  ;  we  buried  him  in  Christ  Church 
Cemetery  by  the  side  of  two  children  whom  I  had  lost  in   1851, 
Mrs.  Upton  Herbert,  who  has  lately  fallen  asleep,  was  the  first  to 
teU  me  of  Willie's  death.     Rev.  Mr.  Morsell  officiated.     There 


lyiFE  IN  Alexandria.  283 

was  such  a  large  turnout  at  the  burial  that  some  one  passing  on  the 
cars  asked  the  name,  and  being  told  that  it  was  a  Packard,  men- 
tioned it  to  my  kin  at  the  North,  and  they  heard  of  it  first  in  this 
way.  I  give  extracts  from  my  son's  letter  after  hearing  of  his 
death.  "  I  am  just  commencing  to  realize  what  it  is  to  lose  a 
brother — to  think  of  the  thousand  things  of  the  past  in  which  he  is 
associated  in  my  mind  and  of  the  future  in  which  I  shall  so  miss 
him.  I  was  always  so  proud  of  him.  I  remember  how  we  enjoyed 
hearing  him  tell  of  his  first  experiences  and  with  what  pleasure  we 
marked  his  enthusiastic  devotion  to  his  duty.  He  was  so  generous, 
so  gallant,  so  pure-hearted.  And  we  have  the  blessed  assurance 
that  he  sees  God  face  to  face,  for  he  was  not  ashamed  of  Him  in 
his  life  and  in  his  death  in  the  absence  of  earthly  comforts  and 
earthly  friends,  Jesus  was  near  him." 

The  winter  of  1863  and  1864  was  passed  without  any  great 
change  in  our  situation.  Alexandria  was  the  headquarters  of  the 
Union  army.  The  hospitals  and  bakeries  were  there.  A  train  of 
cars  left  daily  to  carry  loaves  of  bread  to  the  army.  The  music 
of  the  dead  march  was  often  heard,  as  funerals  from  the  hospitals 
were  of  almost  daily  occurrence.  One  hospital  adjoined  our 
house,  and  there  was  another  across  the  street.  We  were  often 
disturbed  at  night  by  the  bringing  in  of  wounded.  Every  morn- 
ing the  bugle  would  blow  the  reveille  in  front  of  them,  and  when 
the  cars  came  in  the  ambulances  would  often  be  seen  bringing  in 
the  sick  and  wounded.  We  were  living  in  the  house  of  Mrs.  John 
Lloyd  (Mr.  C.  F.  Lee's  sister),  corner  of  Queen  and  Washington 
streets.  The  whole  air  was  infected  by  hospitals.  There  was  a 
great  deal  of  sickness  in  Alexandria,  and  in  my  own  family.  I 
was  sent  for  to  many  funerals.  During  the  two  years  I  spent  in 
Alexandria  I  recorded  in  my  book  sixty-three  burials,  chiefly  of 
infants.  I  had  a  Bible-class  in  my  house  on  Sunday  afternoons 
for  ladies,  which  was  well  attended,  and  I  preached  when  I  could 
in  halls,  and  performed  baptisms  and  burials  for  Methodists, 
Lutherans  and  Presbyterians,  as  well  as  for  my  own  people. 

I  often  used  to  walk  with  Mr.  Boiling  Robertson,  whose  wife 
was  a  Miss  Fairfax,  and  whose  son  Henry  now  lives  in  Alex- 
andria. 

The  assassination  of  Lincoln  produced  intense  excitement  in 
Alexandria.  I  felt  it  was  not  safe  to  go  upon  the  streets.  A 
squad  of  soldiers  came  to  my  house  the  morning  after  the  assassi- 
nation and  insisted  upon  our  putting  out  crape  above  the  door. 


284  Life  in  Alexandria. 

That  night  a  large  stone  was  thrown  into  one  of  the  front  win- 
dows, breaking  the  sash  and  glass. 

In  the  spring  of  1865  I  was  ill  with  the  jaundice  and  was  very- 
weak.  After  the  surrender  I  took  the  first  opportunity  to  go  to  Fau- 
quier. Mrs.  Dr.  Peyton,  my  sister-in-law,  came  down  and  took  me 
back  with  her  in  a  wagon.  On  our  way  to  Fauquier  I  spent  the  night 
at  Mr.  Rumsey's,  just  outside  of  Fairfax  Court  House,  and  there  I 
heard  the  note  of  the  whippoorwill,  which  was  sweeter  to  me  than 
the  sound  of  any  nightingale,  for  it  brought  back  memories  of  my 
country  home — I  had  been  shut  up  in  Alexandria  very  long,  not 
even  able  to  walk  out  of  its  limits.  I  revived  in  Fauquier,  and 
in  the  fall  entered  upon  my  duties  at  the  Seminary,  which  opened 
with  eleven  students.  Dr.  Sparrow  and  I  doing  all  the  teaching. 

On  looking  back  upon  my  sojourn  in  Alexandria,  upon  my 
history  during  the  war,  I  have  great  occasion  for  gratitude. 
Having  no  means  of  support,  I  received  many  unexpected  gifts 
from  many  quarters — sometimes  from  persons  I  did  not  know,  and 
from  other  churches,  among  them  that  of  Rev.  Dr.  Stuart  Robin- 
son, a  distinguished  Presbyterian  divine  of  Kentucky,  so  that  we 
lacked  nothing.  The  Church  people  of  Alexandria,  too,  though  I 
had  no  claims  upon  them,  as  I  was  not  the  minister  of  any  church, 
yet  contributed  something  regularly  to  my  support,  and  I  received 
many  generous  gifts.  Mr.  Charles  HoofiF,  my  good  friend  for  many 
years,  was  very  kind  to  me. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Wall  (1852),  an  excellent  preacher,  was  in 
charge  of  the  church  people  in  Alexandria,  but  not  long  after  I 
came  he  went  to  Canada,  afterwards  returning  to  Maryland, 
where  also  his  son.  Rev.  Edward  Wall,  has  served  acceptably. 
He  was  a  native  of  Ireland  and  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin. 

[Rev.  Dr.  W.  M.  Dame,  once  Rector  of  Christ  Church,  Alexan- 
dria, has  given  the  following  account  of  my  father's  work  in  that 
city. — Editor.] 

"  One  interesting  and  admirable  episode  of  his  life  should  not 
be  forgotten — his  life  in  Alexandria,  1863  to  1865.  Here  he  found 
a  people  and  a  community  who  were  in  evil  case  !  Their  city  was 
occupied  by  the  enemy  ;  their  young  and  middle-aged  men  had 
departed  to  the  war  ;  many  of  their  best  citizens  were  gone  into 
exile  ;  all  their  !ife  was  full  of  uncertainty,  fears  and  dangers. 

"  In  the  simple,  fearless,  manly  way  that  was  so  natural  to  him 
Dr.  Packard  tried  to  steady,  hearten  and  comfort  the  people  strug- 


lyiFE  IN  Alexandria.  285 

gling  with  all  this  trouble.  He  had  anxieties  of  his  own.  His 
beloved  home  was  broken  up,  his  family  separated  ;  the  dear  old 
Seminary  that  he  loved  so  intensely  probably  doomed  to  destruc- 
tion ;  with  little  means  to  provide  for  his  household  ;  with  two 
beloved  sons  exposed  to  the  perils  of  battle  ;  with  all  the  future 
and  all  the  interests  that  were  dearest  to  him  dark  and  uncertain  ; 
in  daily  danger  of  arrest  and  imprisonment,  he,  with  unselfish 
love  and  the  shepherd  instinct  of  a  true  minister,  laid  his  own 
burdens  on  the  Lord  and  and  spent  his  time,  care  and  strength  in 
helping  others. 

"  He  went  about  from  house  to  house,  caring  for  the  sick  and 
the  troubled,  the  lonely  and  the  anxious,  advising,  consoling  and 
cheering  them.  When  no  church  building  was  available  he  had 
cottage  services  in  private  houses,  gathering  such  neighbors  as 
could  come,  preaching  the  Word  and  ministering  the  Sacraments. 
Many  people  who  were  in  Alexandria  at  that  time  have  told  me 
how  cheerfully  and  faithfully,  with  what  tender  sympathy,  he 
did  this,  and  how  much  he  helped  them,  and  they  never  forgot 
how  as  pastor  and  friend  he  stood  by  them  in  that  dark  day." 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 
THREE  MIGHTY  MEN  AND  ANOTHER. 

DAVID  had  thirty-seven  mighty  men,  valiant  warriors  for  the 
kingdom.  Three  of  them  were  the  mightiest,  and  three 
were  mighties,  captains  over  the  thirty-one.  When  David  longed 
for  the  water  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  "  the  three  mighty  men 
brake  through  the  host  of  the  Philistines  and  drew  water  out  of 
the  well  of  Bethlehem."  I  am  going  to  speak  particularly  of  four 
mighty  preachers  in  our  Church,  who  were,  like  Saul,  from  the 
shoulder  and  upward  taller  than  any  of  the  people,  and  who  drew 
the  living  water  from  the  well  of  Bethlehem  and  gave  it  to  thirst- 
ing multitudes.     Lyte's  lines  on  this  subject  are  beautiful : 

"  Three  gallant  men  stood  nigh,  and  heard 

The  wish  their  king  expressed  ; 
Exchanged  a  glance,  but  not  a  word, 

And  dashed  from  midst  the  rest. 
And  strong  iu  zeal,  with  ardor  flushed. 
They  up  the  hill  to  Bethlehem  rushed. 

"  They  come  again  ;  and  with  them  bring 

Nor  gems  nor  golden  prey  ; 
A  single  cup  from  Bethlehem's  spring 

Is  all  they  bear  away  : 
And  through  the  densest  of  the  train 
Fight  back  their  glorious  way  again. 

"  There  is  a  well  in  Bethlehem  still, 

A  fountain  at  whose  brink 
The  weary  soul  may  rest  at  will, 

The  thirsty  stoop  and  drink  ; 
And  unrepelled  by  foe  or  fence. 
Draw  living  waters  freely  thence. 

"  Oh,  did  we  thirst,  as  David  then, 
For  this  diviner  spring, 
Had  we  the  zeal  of  David's  men 

To  plrase  a  higher  king, 
What  precious  drafts  we  thence  might  drain, 
What  holy  triumphs  daily  gain  !  " 

I  will  not  say  that  these  were  the  three  mightiest,  or  that  others 
were  not  as  useful,  but  knowing  them  well,  I  speak  of  them  more 

286 


Stephen  H,  Tyng.  287 

fully.  They  were  long  lived.  Dr.  Stone  attained  nearly  eighty- 
seven  years,  Dr.  Tyng  nearly  eighty-six,  and  Dr.  Vinton  nearly 
fourscore,  and  they  were  all  noble-looking  men. 

Dr.  Tyng  comes  first  in  date  of  ordination,  March  4,  1821,  when 
just  twenty-one.  His  early  life  showed  his  character  and  bent  of 
mind.  He  was  sent  to  boarding-school  when  six  years  old  at 
Quincy.  When  eight  years  old  he  and  two  other  boys  went  across 
the  Boston  harbor  on  the  ice,  some  nine  miles,  reaching  home  at 
nine  o'clock  Saturday  night,  where  he  received  a  whipping  and 
was  sent  supperless  to  bed.  The  next  day  they  were  returned  to 
school  in  a  sleigh,  and  there  received  another  severe  whipping. 
Boston  was  then  a  town  of  less  than  thirty  thousand  inhabitants, 
very  rural  in  aspect,  most  of  the  houses  having  gardens,  and  the 
citizens  pasturing  their  cows  on  the  Common,  whence  they 
drove  them  home  every  evening. 

His  father,  Judge  Dudley  A.  Tyng,  was  born  a  year  before  my 
father  and  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other  in  the  same  State.  Of 
Judge  Tyng  this  remarkable  circumstance  is  related  by  Bishop 
Stevens  in  his  sermon  at  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Benjamin  H. 
Paddock:   "  Shortly  after  Bishop  Bass'  death  there  occurred  the 
only  instance  in  the  American  Church  where  a  bishopric  was  ten- 
dered to  a  layman.     Among  the  honorable  men  of  Massachusetts 
there  was  one  who,   like  Ambrose,    in  the  fourth  century,  was 
early  entrusted  with  the  judicial  office  ;  like  him  truly  godly  and 
zealous  for  Christ,  and  to  whom,  as  to  Ambrose,  was  tendered  a 
bishopric  while  yet  engaged  in  secular  duties.     That  man  was 
Dudley  Atkins  Tyng.     Ambrose,  despite  his  reluctance,  was  con- 
secrated Bishop  of  Milan.     Judge  Tyng  refused  the  solicitation  of 
Dr.   Dehon,  afterwards  Bishop   of  South   Carolina,    who  in  the 
name  and  at  the  request  of  the  clergy  of  Rhode  Island  and  Massa- 
chusetts asked  him  to  '  receive  orders  as  Deacon  and  Priest,  that 
they    might,    with   as  little  delay  as  possible,    elect    him    their 
bishop.'" 

Stephen  Tyng  made  such  progress  that  when  thirteen  he  was 
admitted  to  Harvard  College,  the  youngest  of  a  class  of  eighty-six, 
and  he  graduated  when  seventeen.  He  spent  two  years  with  his 
uncle  Perkins,  of  the  large  East  India  firm  of  Sam.  G.  Perkins  & 
Co.,  Boston.  The  morning  of  July  19,  1819,  he  awoke  early,  and 
as  he  lay  awake  an  impression  was  made  on  his  conscious  mind, 
sounding  in  his  ear  as  if  a  voice  had  actually  spoken,  "  Stephen 
Tyng,  what  a  wasteful  life   you  are  leading!"     He  replied  im- 


288  Tyng's  Conversion. 

mediately,  "Lord,  I  will  live  so  no  longer."     At  once  he  knelt 
down  and  prayed  for  forgiveness.     He  was  at  once  brought  to  a 
new  choice  and  determination  for  his  future  life,  but  they  were 
not  attended  with  strong  emotions,  nor  with  distressing  convic- 
tions of  guilt,  nor  clear  views  of  a  Saviour.     He  had  the  indelible 
impression  that  his  life  had  been  wrong  and  the  determination 
to  start  at  once  on  a  better  course.     He  met  with  little  spiritual 
sympathy  or  help,  and  was   looked  on  as  a  fanatic.     He  deter- 
mined to  study  for  the  ministry  and  left  his  uncle's  counting- 
house.   He  was  to  sail  the  autumn  of  1 819  for  Calcutta  for  the  firm, 
and  his  withdrawal  caused  the  young  man  at  his  desk  to  go  in- 
stead.    The  ship  in  which  he  sailed  was  burned  at  sea  off  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  he  was  never  heard  of  again.     He  went 
on  a  visit  to  his  old  home,  and  the  stage  oflfice  being  a  mile  off  and 
no  one  at  hand  to  take  his  trunk,  he  took  it  himself  in  a  wheel- 
barrow in  the  middle  of  the  day  through  the  crowded  streets  of 
Boston.     His  father,  unknown  to  him,  saw  him,  and   called   him 
in  and  said  :   "  Stephen,  that  was  noble  ;  "  his  first  expression  of 
kindness  since  his  change  of  life.     On  returning  to  Boston  by 
water,  when  the  boat  arrived  late  Sunday  evening,   no  laborers 
were  there,   and  he   shouldered   his   trunk   and  trudged  home. 
These  httle  incidents  showed  the  sturdiness  and  independence  of 
his  character.     He  went  to  Bristol,  R.  I.,    November,    1819,  to 
study  under  Bishop  Griswold.     There  at  once  he  began  his  min- 
istry by  conducting  religious  meetings  in  private  houses,  and  first 
showed  forth  his  wonderful  facility  and  power  as  a  preacher. 

In  1820  Bristol  was  visited  by  a  remarkable  revival  in  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  beginning  when  Bishop  Griswold  was  taken  ill 
while  preaching.  For  several  months  Tyng  was  engaged  morn- 
ing, afternoon  and  evening  in  holding  meetings  in  various  parts 
of  the  town  and  country,  and  large  numbers  were  brought  to  the 
Bishop  for  confirmation.  March  4,  1 821,  he  was  ordained  Deacon, 
and  went  to  New  York,  where  he  .spent  several  weeks,  and  came 
on  to  Washington  at  Dr.  Milner's  request,  with  letters  to  Rev. 
Messrs.  Addison,  Hawley  and  Mcllvaine.  He  spent  a  few  weeks 
with  Mr.  Hawley,  intending  to  go  on  to  Virginia,  where  he  had 
been  invited,  but  while  there  Rev.  Mr.  Addison  resigned  St. 
John's,  Georgetown,  and  upon  his  recommendation  Tyng  was 
elected  his  successor.  Bishop  Mcllvaine  was  even  then  a  preacher 
of  great  eloquence  and  power  in  Christ  Church,  but  Tyng's  work 
was  most  successful.     In  February,  1870,  forty-nine  years  after, 


A  Maryland  Parish.  289 

Dr.  Tyng  visited  St.  John's  to  preach,  at  the  congregation's 
request,  before  they  remodeled  it.  He  spoke  of  the  old  times  and 
old  families,  but  none  were  then  remaining — only  children  and 
grandchildren.  Strange  to  say.  Bishop  Mcllvaine  was  at  Christ 
Church  that  day  also,  unknown  to  each  other  till  after  the  service, 
and  each  was  speak  ng  of  the  ministry  of  the  other. 

He  spent  six  years,  1823  to  1829,  in  Queen  Anne  parish.  Prince 
George's,  Maryland,  of  part  of  which  afterwards  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Stanley  was  rector  for  many  years,  and  later  the  Rev.  James  J. 
Page.     They  were  six  most  happy,  useful  years,  and  he  was  un- 
tiring in  his  work  in   that  large  parish,  thirty  by  twenty  miles, 
and  in  visiting  tours  through  other  counties.     This  was  then  one 
of  the  finest  parts  of  the  State,  with  large  plantations,  fine  resi- 
dences and  great  wealth.     They  were  an  easy,  pleasure-loving 
people.     Mr.  Tyng  was  very  plain  spoken  and  fearless  in  his 
preaching,  taking  such  texts  as  this,  Isa.  iii,  9  :   "The  show  of 
their  countenance  doth  witness  against  them  ;     *     *     *    woe  unto 
their  soul  !  fjr  they  have  rewarded  evil  unto  themselves."     Isa.  v, 
11-14 :   "  Woe  u.ito  them  that  rise  up  early,  that  they  may  follow 
strong  drink."     Ezek.  xvi,  49  :   "  Behold,  this  was  the  iniquity 
of  thy  sister  Sodom  ;  pride,  fulness  of  bread,  and  abundance  of 
idleness   was  in   her  and  in  her  daughters."     One  of  the  rich- 
est men  in  the  parish,  apparently  a  truly  religious  man,  was  drawn 
back  to  early  habits  of  extreme  indulgence.     Tyng  remonstrated 
with  him,  when  he  became  much  enraged  and  tried  for  five  years 
to  drive  him  from  the  parish,  but   on  his  deathbed  asked  his  for- 
giveness.    There  were  some  threats  about  his  plain  preaching,  but 
an  old  resident  told  them,  "  You  had  better  let  that  young  man 
alone.     You  will   not   do   much  with   him,  and    you    know  he  is 
right."     He  studied  hard  the  few  books  that  he  had  and  mastered 
them.     He   got    hold   of  four  volumes   of  Ezekiel    Hopkins  and 
read   them   straight   through   six  times.     "Then,"  says  he  "  I 
preached  them  from  memory,  preaching  extemporaneously  Bishop 
Hopkins  ovtrr  and  over."     A  friend   of  mine   told   me   he  heard 
him  preach  one  of  the  most  powerful  sermons,  and  it  was  Hopkins, 
nearly  word  for  word.     Bishop  Reynolds  and  Archbishop  L<eigh- 
ton   also   formed   his   chief  furnishing.     Those  who  are  familiar 
with   these  works   could   see   how   greatly   they   influenced   his 
preaching.     He  did  not  get  along  very  well  with  Bishop  Kemp, 
who  opposed  his  work  for  the  Seminary  and  other  things.     Once 
when  driving  the  Bishop  on  a  visitation,  after  more  rebuking  than 


290  Tyng's  Repartee. 

he  relished,  he  said  to  him  :  "  Bishop,  there  is  not  an  old  woman 
in  my  parish  who  can  put  a  pot  on  to  boil,  but  you  must  lift  the 
lid  to  see  what  is  inside  of  it."  Messrs.  Hawley  and  Mcllvaine 
were  in  the  carriage  and  laughed  at  the  remark,  as  they  had  also 
been  reproved  by  the  Bishop.  Tyng  then  added:  "  My  dear 
Bishop,  we  had  better  move  oflf  and  let  you  get  another  set  of 
preachers."  He  replied  :  "  Ah,  if  you  go,  I  will  get  a  worse  set 
of  preachers." 

He  was  very  bright  at  repartee  and  abounded  in  smart  sayings. 
He  once  told  me  of  an  occasion  when  he  felt  ill  at  ease.  I  said, 
'■  You  must  have  felt  like  a  cow  in  a  strange  pasture."  "  But  I 
was  not  cowed,"  he  said  quick  as  a  flash.  Speaking  of  the  pri- 
vations of  country  ininisters  he  said  they  were  treated  as  the 
Abyssinians  treated  their  cows  ;  cut  a  steak  off  the  living  animal 
and  then  drive  it  on.  He  complained  that  in  the  country  he  had 
to  kill  his  own  hogs.  Some  one  asked  him  what  a  rector  emeritus 
was.  He  said,  '  'A  man  who  sits  by  the  fire  with  the  cat. ' '  Some 
one  spoke  of  his  quick  temper.  He  took  it  very  well,  and  said, 
"  Madam,  I  overcome  in  a  day  more  temper  than  you  do  in  a 
year."  Apropos  of  temper  Dr  Sparrow  writes  a  friend,  "Mr. 
Fowles,  with  great  simplicity,  remarked  he  did  not  know  why  it 
was  that  so  many  of  the  men  who  preach  the  doctrines  of  grace 
have  bad  tempers."  I  called  on  him  once  on  a  Saturday,  but 
did  not  see  him,  as  he  would  see  no  one.  He  said  to  me  after- 
wards, "  If  I  had  known  it  was  you  I  would  have  let  you  in  at 
midnight  as  the  neighbor  in  the  Gospel  would  not  do."  He  had 
his  study  door  fixed  once  so  that  he  could  see  who  was  there 
without  being  seen. 

In  1829  he  was  called  to  St.  Paul's,  Philadelphia,  to  succeed  Rev. 
Benjamin  Allen,  but  he  decided  to  decline  and  had  so  written. 
He  received  a  communication  from  a  committee  of  pewholders, 
and  a  protest  signed  by  seventy-five  persons  against  his  coming. 
This  was  because  of  his  evangelical  views.  He  at  once  decided  to 
go,  and  spent  five  successful  years  there.  The  text  of  his  first 
sermon  was  a  good  one,  and  was  the  means  of  converting  one  of 
the  most  valuable  members  of  his  church  :  "I  am  sure  that  when 
I  come  unto  you  I  shall  come  in  the  fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ."  Here  he  and  Dr.  Bedell,  father  of  the  Bishop, 
were  closely  associated  until  his  death,  in  1834. 

Some  interesting  incidents  marked  his  ministry  at  this  time. 
In  1834  he  went  South,  through  Virginia,  North  and  Soath  Car- 


Ministry  in  Philadelphia.  291 

olina,  to  arouse  interest  in  Bristol  College.  He  preached  in  all 
the  churches  in  Charleston,  and  for  a  week  every  night  in  the 
theatre.  Many  were  converted  under  his  strong  preaching, 
among  them  the  first  Bishop  Boone.  Another  striking  instance 
was  that  of  a  merchant  who  went  home  very  much  impressed  by 
the  service,  talking  of  it  to  his  friend  and  telling  his  wife  of  the 
impression.  His  wife  found  him  early  the  next  morning  sitting 
at  his  table  with  his  open  Bible  and  a  lamp  before  him,  as  if  he 
had  been  reading,  but  his  spirit  had  fled. 

In  Philadelphia  his  church  was  always  crowded  ;  the  aisles 
even  were  habitually  filled.  The  people  around  called  the  build- 
ingTyng's  Theatre,  and  were  accustomed  to  say  that  he  could  walk 
from  the  pulpit  to  the  door  on  the  heads  of  the  people. 

In  1834  lie  was  induced  to  give  up  St.  Paul's  and  start  a  new 
church,  the  Epiphany,  in  a  growing  part  of  Philadelphia,  where 
he  continued  until  1845,  and  built  uponeof  the  strongest  parishes 
in  the  city.  In  1845  his  name  was  proposed  for  Bishop  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  on  the  first  ballot  he  received  thirty-five  votes,  when 
thirty-nine  were  required  to  elect.  The  second  ballot  was  the 
same,  when  he  withdrew  his  name.  The  next  day  being  told 
that  his  vote  would  nominate  Dr.  Alonzo  Potter,  he  gave  it,  and 
he  was  nominated  and  unanimously  elected,  to  the  great  blessing 
of  that  diocese. 

In  1845  lie  was  chosen  to  succeed  Rev.  Dr.  Milner  at  St. 
George's,  New  York,  and  there  he  spent  thirty-three  years  of 
great  usefulness.  St.  George's  was  a  chapel  of  Trinity  Church, 
and  was  the  second  Episcopal  church  erected  in  New  York.  The 
first  church  was  built  in  1748,  fifty  years  after  Trinity  Church. 
Dr.  Milner  had  for  many  years  occupied  a  commanding  position 
as  the  most  prominent  evangelical  clergyman  of  our  Church,  and 
had  made  St.  George's  a  great  power  for  good.  Dr.  Tyng's  first 
sermon  on  taking  charge  was  II  Kings,  ii.,  15  :  "They  said,  the 
spirit  of  Elijah  doth  rest  upon  Elisha  "~a  very  appropriate  and 
happy  selection.  During  his  ministry  St.  George's  was  removed 
from  Beekman  street  to  its  present  position  on  Sixteenth  street 
and  Stuyvesant  Square,  the  land  being  a  gift  of  Peter  G.  Stuyve- 
sant,  Esq.  Here  Dr.  Tyng  and  his  church  were  settled  and 
became  a  mighty  power.  Bishop  Wainwright  said.  "I  bless 
God  for  St.  George's,  it  is  doing  wonderful  work.  I  wish  we  had 
twenty  such  churches.  " 

Dr.  Tyng  was  always  considered  a  Low-Churchman,  but  like 


292  Tyng  as  Preacher. 

Judge  Tyng,  his  father,  he  was  a  devoted  and  decided  one. 
Bishop  Mcllvaine  said  that  Dr.  Tyng  spoke  little  about  his  Church- 
manship.  though  he  had  a  great  deal  of  it,  and  was  a  thorough 
Churchman  in  all  his  connections,  tastes  and  habits.  His  preach- 
ing was  the  most  clear  and  faithful  declaration  of  the  Gospel,  and 
he  exalted  Christ  as  the  only  and  all-suiScient  Saviour.  He  was, 
as  Dr.  T.  L.  Cuyler  said,  "  the  prince  of  platform  speakers,  " 
having  a  projectile  force  that  carried  conviction  to  those  who 
heard  him.  His  personal  magnetism  was  extraordinary,  his 
memory  wonderful,  and  his  command  of  language  and  illustration 
unlimited.  His  argument  was  grand  and  severe  and  at  times 
playful,  his  voice  was  deep  andsonorous,  and  was  always  distinctly 
heard  throughout  the  largest  building. 

In  1873,  at  our  semi-centennial,  he  made  an  address.  Rev. 
James  Poindexter  was  present,  and  told  me  that  he  was  prejudiced 
against  Dr.  Tvng,  but  after  hearing  him  five  minutes  was  perfectly 
delighted. 

I  have  spoken  at  length  of  Dr.  Tyng,  for  though  a  deeply-inter- 
esting life  has  been  published  by  his  son,  few  perhaps  have  read 
it,  and  as  one  of  the  oldest  friends  of  our  Seminary  he  deserves 
loving  remembrance.  Through  him  we  received  St.  George's 
Hall,  built  by  his  congregation  and  named  after  his  church.  At 
the  Convention  of  1840  in  Charlottesville  Dr.  Tyng  painted  Jef- 
ferson's character  in  such  dark  colors  that  Alexander  Rives  and 
others  tried  to  get  up  an  indignation  meeting  but  failed.  Dr. 
Tyng  rode  from  there  to  lyexington  on  horseback,  and  there  being 
only  a  few  Episcopalians  there,  the  Presbyterians  asked  him  to 
preach  in  their  church.  He  said,  "  I'll  preach  if  you  let  me  have 
things  my  own  way,"  "  You  can  do  as  you  choose,"  they  said. 
They  had  not  heard  an  Episcopalian  before,  and  when  he  preached 
they  said  they  had  never  heard  anything  like  it  before. 

Speaking  of  Bishop  Meade  at  this  Convention,  Dr.  Tyng  said  : 
"  He  is  a  man,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to 
unloose." 

Dr.  Tyng  was  not  always  opposed  to  slavery,  but  he  became  an 
abolitionist  when  with  his  son  Dudley.  Once,  standing  on  my 
porch  and  looking  over  the  hills  along  the  Potomac,  he  said,  "  if 
I  had  been  born  in  the  South  I  would  have  owned  negroes,  too." 
During  the  war  he  said  in  a  sermon,  "I  hate  slavery.  From 
the  very  blood  of  my  heart,  I  have  always  hated  it  ;  "  forgetting 
that  in  his  Southern  life  he  had  defended  it  with  much  vehemence. 


Tyng  with  ChiIvDren.  293 

He  had  a  wonderful  power  over  children,  and  his  Sunday- 
schools  were  enormous  and  did  great  missionary  work.  On  the 
occasion  of  a  Sunday-school  anniversary  in  Bishop  Bedell's  dio- 
cese, Dr.  Tyng  was  sitting  in  the  chancel.  The  Bishop,  as  each 
class  brought  up  its  offering  and  the  name  of  the  class  was 
announced,  would  make  some  remark  appropriate  to  the  name. 
Presently  the  "Bedell  Class"  was  announced.  Up  jumped  Dr. 
Tyng  and  patting  Bishop  Bedell  on  his  bald  head  said  :  "  Child- 
ren, I  knew  your  little  Bishop  when  he  was  knee-high  to  a  toad, 
and,"  he  addtd,  "  I  never  knew  him  to  do  anything  wrong." 
Bishop  Bedell  blushing  deeply  said,  "and  children,  the  Doctor 
could  not  say  that  if  he  knew  me  as  I  know  myself." 

He  once  was  speaking  ratht^r  slightingly  to  some  ladies  about 
bald-headed  men  ;  as  it  happened  their  rector  was  bald.  Tliey 
asked  him  very  solemnly  what  happened  to  those  who  ridi- 
culed the  bald-headed  prophet.  "Oh,"  said  he,  "  two  s/ie-hears 
came  out  and  devoured  them."  Dr.  Dyer  once  told  Dr.  Tyng  a 
story  about  a  bear  and  he  dressed  it  up  so  that  Dr.  Dyer  did  not 
know  his  own  bear. 

Dr.  Tyng  often  made  addresses  at  all  sorts  of  meetings ;  and 
was  always  most  happy,  and  his  illustrations  were  very  telling. 
He  was  once  speaking  of  the  awkwardness  of  young  ministers 
and  compared  them  to  the  storks  who  pushed  their  young  ones 
off  the  nest  to  learn  for  themselves.  He  once  spoke  on  Posi- 
tiveness  in  the  Preacher,  which  he  illustrated  by  the  .story  of 
the  Green  Mountain  boy.  Having  to  travel  one  night  on  a  dan- 
gerous mountain  road  he  said  he  wished  to  talk  with  the  driver 
first.  Being  called  in,  he  was  surprised  to  see  a  half-grown  boy, 
and  he  asked  him  some  questions  about  his  driving,  and  finally 
said,  "  Do  you  know  this  road  well  ?  ''  "  Yes,  sir  ;  I  know  every 
stone  in  it."  His  positive  knowledge  settled  the  question.  In 
an  address  befcjre  the  Education  Society  he  once  spoke  of  some 
ministers  being  "Theological  Bats,"  having  no  settled  belief, 
but  taking  their  opinions  from  their  company,  as  the  bat  in  the 
fable  claimed  to  be  a  bird  when  with  the  birds  and  a  beast  when 
with  the  beasts.  I  sat  by  Bishop  Stevens  who  enjoyed  it  very 
much.  I  have  heard  Dr.  Tyng  speak  of  tobacco  as  "Devil's 
dust"  in  German  Teufclsdreck.  I  heard  him  recommend  from 
his  pulpit  Goode's  Better  Covenant,  a  work  once  much  read  by 
our  clergy  and  people. 

Once  Dr.   Tyng  met  Bishop  Clark  getting  off  the  cars,    when 

19 


294  Favorite  Texts. 

Tyng  patted  him  on  the  cheek  and  said,  "  Well,  Tom,  my  boy, 
how  are  you  ?  "  He  was  often  sarcastic.  To  a  heavy  and  good 
clergyman  who  asked  him  if  he  was  tired  of  talking  he  replied 
"  No,  not  to  sensible  men."  When  the  same  man  said,  "  Doctor, 
we  don't  understand  your  doctrine  of  unconditional  salvation," 
he  said,  "  Well,  the  Lord  doesn't  require  me  to  furnish  brains  as 
well  as  sermons." 

Once,  preaching  on  the  depravity  of  man  in  our  chapel  here, 
when  a  Commodore  was  present,  who  rarely  went  to  church,  he 
happened  to  say,  "  You  may  circumnavigate  the  globe,  you  may 
visit  an  island  never  visited  before,  but  you  will  find  man  the 
same  everywhere,  half  beast  and  half  devil." 

In  the  valley  of  decision  was  a  favorite  text.  He  had  a  power- 
ful sermon  on  "  The  door  was  shut." 

I  have  mentioned  some  of  Dr.  Tyng's  happy  texts.  Another 
occurs  to  me.  Preaching  once  in  a  town  where  infidelity  and 
ungodliness  prevailed  among  those  who  boasted  of  their  intellect 
and  position,  he  took  James  iii.,  13  :  "  Who  is  a  wise  man  and 
endued  with  knowledge  among  you  ?  Let  him  shew  out  of  a 
good  conversation  his  works  with  meekness  of  wisdom."  Many 
of  these  scoffers  came  out  to  hear  him  and  went  away  impressed 
with  the  truth.  He  preached  once  against  "  feathers  and  flowers," 
taking  for  his  text  "  feathered  fowl." 

Rev.  John  S.  Stone  was  five  years  older  than  Dr.  Tyng,  but 
was  ordained  in  1826,  five  years  later,  the  same  year  with  Drs. 
H.  V.  D.  Johns,  Sparrow,  John  Grammer  and  Jatnes  May.  He 
has  been  dead  fifteen  years,  and  few  are  now  living  who  knew 
him  in  his  prime,  but  his  memory  is  precious  to  me  and  I  would 
like  others  to  know  of  him.  His  native  place  was  Berkshire,  and 
when  nineteen  years  old  he  marched  with  his  musket  over  the 
Brookline  Hills  to  the  defense  of  Boston  against  the  expected 
attack  by  the  British  forces  in  1814.  Dr.  Stone  was  a  man  lovely 
in  feature  and  in  character,  anl  was  one  of  my  first  acquaint- 
ances among  the  Episcopal  clergy.  Serving  in  Litchfield,  Fred- 
ericktown  and  New  Haven,  he  came  to  St.  Paul's,  Boston,  where 
I  was  ordained,  where  he  had  a  short  but  powerful  ministry.  He 
was  never  ashamed  to  preach  Christ  crucified,  though  it  was  folly 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Unitarians.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  give  our 
Church  influence  and  standing  in  Boston. 

He  was  always  a  leader  in  the  Evangelical  host,  was  influential 
in  all  the  Evangelical  societies,  and  drew  up  the  Constitution 


7oHN  S.  Stone.  295 

and  Rules  of  the  Evangelical  Knowledge  Society.  I  have  told 
of  my  first  acquaintance  with  him  at  Andover,  where  he  preached. 
His  ministry  was  always  remarkable  for  the  power  with  which  he 
preached  Christ  as  the  only  and  all-sufficient  Saviour,  presenting 
Him  with  rare  and  peculiar  clearness.  He  showed  also,  in  doing 
this,  rare  intellectual  power.  He  would  take  a  very  familiar  text 
or  commonplace  subject  and  make  it  deeply  interesting  by  his  rich 
and  g  owing  style.  He  would  sometimes  take  an  uncommon 
text  and  squeeze  out  of  it  more  than  anyone  would  dream  of 
being  in  it.  He  clothed  the  skeletons  of  texts  with  flesh  and 
blood  and  made  them  stand  out  in  bold  relief  before  us.  Rev. 
Dr.  Currie,  of  Baltimore,  reminds  me  of  him  in  his  original  mode 
of  treating  hackneyed  subjects.  Everywhere  he  commanded  the 
respect  and  admiration  of  such  men  as  Jeremiah  Mason,  of  whom 
Henry  Clay  said,  when  he  was  a  Senator,  that  he  "  was  a  giant 
in  body  and  soul."  This  was  indeed  the  case  ;  Mison  was  six  feet 
seven  inches  in  height  and  of  correspondingly  large  frame.  I 
never  remember  seeing  anyone  so  large,  and  beds  and  coaches 
would  groan  under  his  weight.  Two  eminent  men,  one  a  clergy- 
man and  the  other  a  great  lawyer,  have  said  that  Dr.  Stone  was 
the  ablest  sermonizer  they  ever  heard.  The  power  of  his  thought, 
the  clearness  of  his  reasoning,  and  the  beauty  of  his  diction  were 
notable  in  that  day  of  great  speakers.  There  was  felt  profound 
respect  not  only  for  his  talents,  but  for  the  theology  which  he 
preached. 

Dr.  Stone  visited  me  sometimes,  staying  a  few  days  at  a  time.  He 
was  a  beautiful-looking  man,  very  gentle  in  his  manners  and  full 
of  graciousness.  There  was  a  childlike  simplicity  in  his  charac- 
ter, and  children  felt  at  ease  with  him ;  and  I  recall  his  going 
down  in  my  orchard  with  the  boys  to  get  apples.  His  son, 
Archibald  M.  Stone,  was  a  graduate  of  this  Seminary,  and  while 
here  changed  his  name  to  Morrison  to  inherit  a  fortune  of  $300,000. 
He  received  the  news  without  showing  the  least  emotion. 

Dr.  Stone  was  very  absent-minded,  and  this  fact  often  amused 
his  friends.  He  has  been  known  to  invite  persons  to  dine  with 
him  and  then  go  oflf  from  home  himself.  He  was  made  first  Dean 
of  the  Philadelphia  Diviniiy  School,  and  in  1867,  at  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Episcopal  Theological  Scho  )1  of  Massachusetts,  he 
was  made  its  first  Dean,  where  he  continued  until  his  retirement, 
at  eighty-one,  living  six  years  longer  to  bless  it  with  his  prayers 


296  Bishop  Wainwright. 

and  gracious  presence.  His  death  was  an  ideal  one,  calm  and 
beautiful — a  gentle,  painless,  quick  release,  closing  an  ideal  life. 

Bishop  Wainwright,  whom  I  knew  quite  well,  often  comes  in 
my  mind  when  I  think  of  Dr.  Stone,  for  they  were  associated 
together  in  services  at  Andover,  and  there  I  heard  him  preach 
three  times  in  one  day.  He  came  to  old  Trinity  in  Boston,  and  it 
was  said  that  he  revised  his  old  sermons  by  putting  in  very  often 
the  name  of  our  Lord  to  make  them  sound  evangelical. 

I  heard  Bishop  Wainwright  tell  a  story  of  Bishop  Ravenscroft, 
who  had  in  early  youth  a  habit  of  profane  swearing,  which  he 
could  not  overcome  till  he  felt  the  force  of  the  text,  "  Walk  in 
the  Spirit  and  ye  shall  not  fulfil  the  lust  of  the  flesh,"  the  text 
of  Phillips  Brooks'  first  sermon  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and,  as  I 
think,  one  of  his  greatest.  Bishop  Ravenscroft  was  of  a  very  differ- 
ent type  of  Churchmanship  and  theology  from  us,  but  he  was  a 
strong  man  and  a  fine  preacher. 

Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  H.  Vinton  who  succeeded  Dr.  Stone  at 
St.  Paul's,  Boston,  in  1842,  was  ordained  in  1835,  ^  year  before 
me,  and  the  same  year  with  Rev.  Charles  C.  Pmckney.  Dr. 
Vinton  was  born  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  in  a  family  of  five 
brothers,  three  of  whom  gained  distinction  in  military  service.  It 
is  said  he  himself  thought  ot  becoming  a  soldier,  and  he  had  what 
Emerson  calls  "the  military  eye,  now  darkly  sparkling  under 
clerical,  now  under  rustic  brows,  "  and  that  "  wonderful  express- 
iveness of  body,  "  in  which,  as  Balzac  has  said,  "  the  look,  the 
voice,  the  respiration,  and  the  attitude  or  walk  are  identical.  " 
Seeing  Dr.  Vinton  for  the  first  time,  you  would  judge  hi  n  to  be 
a  noble  man,  large-minded,  large-hearted  and  large-souled,  as 
indeed  he  was.  The  personality  and  presence  of  a  man  have 
much  to  do  with  the  impression  which  he  makes  upon  men. 
Every  one  of  us  carries  with  him  a  moral  atmosphere,  which 
aflfects  men  when  they  see  us,  and  which  is  sometimes  stronger 
than  our  words  or  deeds.  Dr.  Vinton  had  a  noble  physical 
nature,  a  superb  presence,  and  his  eye,  his  poise  and  whole  bearing 
indicated  his  position  as  a  great  man.  Even  before  he  spoke  you 
felt  his  power  over  you,  and  as  anoth^-r  has  said,  "  Whoever 
looked  upon  him  would  consent  that  his  aims  were  generous  and 
universal;"  "  his  look  drew  audience  and  attention  still  as  night.  " 
Bayne  says  in  his  Essays  in  Biography  of  Hugh  Miller  :  "In  the 
firm,  deliberate  planting  of  his  heavy  step  ;  in  the  quiet,  wide- 
open   determination   of  his  eye ;  in  the  unagitated,    self-relying 


Alexander  H.  Vinton.  297 

dignity  of  his  whole  gait  and  deportment,  you  beheld  the  man 
who  felt  that  without  pride  or  presumption  he  might  measure  him- 
self by  the  standard  of  his  own  manhood,  and  so  look  every  man, 
of  what  station  soever,  in  the  face.  "  All  this  was  exactly  true  of 
Dr.  Vinton.  He  was  a  giant  among  men  and  his  face  was  leonine  in 
strength.  It  was  while  he  was  a  physician  for  three  years  in 
Pomfret,  Conn.,  that  he  experienced  the  great  change,  in  which, 
as  Phillips  Brooks  says,  a  man  comes  to  know  himself  as  a  child 
of  God,  and  to  give  himself  in  complete  consecration  to  the 
Saviour.  This  experience  seems  to  have  been  sacredly  hidden  in 
his  own  memory. 

"  He  could  not  trust  his  melting  soul 
But  in  his  Maker's  sight.  " 

I  heard  Dr.  Vinton  preach  his  first  sermon,  and  it  happened  in 
this  way  :  Rev.  J.  W.  French,  his  intimate  friend,  and  I  were  pro- 
fessors at  Bristol  College,  and  Vinton  had  promised  him  to  preach 
his  first  sermon  in  the  little  chapel  there.  His  text  was  II  Co- 
rinthians, ii.,  15  :  "  For  we  are  unto  God  a  sweet  savor  of  Christ 
in  them  that  are  saved  and  in  them  that  perish,"  and  this  word 
was  a  keynote  to  all  his  subsequent  preaching.  His  first  charge, 
I  think,  was  Grace  Church,  Providence,  his  native  city,  but  he 
was  not  a  prophet  wiihout  honor  there,  even  then.  His  sixteen 
years'  ministry  in  St.  Paul's,  Boston,  was,  in  the  opinion  of  Bishop 
Brooks,  who  joined  our  Church  under  him,  the  strongest  and  most 
effective  ministry  which  our  Church  has  ever  known  in  Boston. 
Boston  was  then  a  peculiar  field  of  labor  for  the  minister  of  Christ. 
Like  the  Greeks  of  old,  they  sought  after  wisdom,  and,  like  them, 
they  regarded  the  Gospel  as  folly.  Charles  Sumner  said  :  "  I  am 
without  religious  feeling ;  I  am  unconvinced  that  Christ  was 
divinely  commissioned  to  preach  a  revelation  to  man." 

William  H.  Prescott,  the  great  historian,  after  examining  the 
books  on  evidences  on  both  sides,  did  not  find  in  the  Gospels  or  in 
any  part  of  the  New  Testament  the  doctrines  commonly  called 
orthodox,  and  he  deliberately  recorded  his  objections  to  them. 
Both  these  men,  like  Pilate,  summoned  Christ  before  them  and 
asked,  "  What  is  truth  !  " 

"  It  was  Pilate's  scofBng  question. 
Asked  of  Him  who  was  the  Truth, 
Who  deigned  him  no  reply." 


298  Dr.  Vinton's  Preaching. 

Dr.  Vinton  was  well  qualified  to  deal  with  men  who  regarded 
the  G)spel  as  irrational  and  absurd.  No  one  could  hear  him  and 
go  away  scoffing  cynically  at  the  strange  doctrine  he  brought 
to  their  ears.     As  Croly  said  of  another, 

"  You  could  have  heard 
The  beating  of  your  pulses  while  he  spoke." 

The  graphic  portrait  of  sin,  its  power  and  its  effects,  the  masterly 
arguments  with  which  he  broug  it  conviction  to  the  sinner,  the 
eloquent  persuasives  to  the  love  of  Christ,  all  combined  to  have 
great  effect.  At  such  a  time  and  place  Dr.  Vinton's  mind,  thor- 
oughly trained  and  furnished,  strong  in  its  grasp  of  first  principles 
and  in  its  loyalty  to  eyerlasting  truth,  began  its  work  of  preaching 
the  G  )spel  seriously  and  earnestly.  He  dwelt  much  upon  the  two 
covenants — the  first  being  the  covenant  of  works,  in  which  God 
promised  blessing  for  obedience  ;  the  second  the  covenant  of  grace, 
in  which  God  was  reconciled  to  man  in  Christ  Jesus  to  all  who  ac- 
cepted it.  As  Phi  lips  Brooks  says  in  the  memorial  sermon  on  him, 
"  He  was  a  great  man  and  his  gr<,at  thoughts  begat  great  words. 
The  movement  of  his  words  was  the  heaving  of  the  tide  and  not 
the  sparkling  of  the  spray."  God  rais.d  iiim  up  for  the  great  work 
of  reviving  our  Church  in  Boston 

His  exle  porane 'US  u'terances  were  often  his  best.  He  was 
invited  to  deliver  the  address  at  the  semi-centennial  of  this  Semi- 
nary i  1  1873,  but  was  unable  to  do  S).  He  was  in  demand  as  a 
speaker  and  preacher  everywhere,  and  was  abvays  ready.  He 
took  great  interest  in  the  Church  Congress,  of  which  he  was  the 
first  acting  President,  since  Bishop  Horatio  Potter  did  not 
approve  of  th  -m.  He  )ft  -n  s  >  >ke  at  them  and  his  addres^  at  the 
Char  h  Congr.-ss  of  1875  0  '  Episcopal  Authority  is,  I  think,  the 
best  ever  made  on  that  subject.  He  opposed  the  Lambeth 
Conferences,  as  he  wanted  our  Church  to  be  American  and 
thouo"ht  the  tendency  of  these  conferences  was  a  ainst  that 
spirit.  He  did  more  than  any  other  I  think,  to  make  our  Church 
be  and  make  her  seem  American.  He  had  no  sympathy  himself 
with  the  sentimental  yeari.ings,  which  w  aken  our  Church  in 
this  land,  to  make  her  wear  the  dress  and  ape  the  language  of 
the  Church  of  England.  His  plea  for  the  absolute  independence 
of  our  Church  was  one  of  the  strongest  speeches  he  ever  made. 
He  was  the  first  American  minister  invited  to  preach  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  I  think.     I  remember  going  to  see  him  once  in 


Dr.  Vinton's  Ministry.  299 

New  York  when  he  was  rector  of  the  old  Grace  Church,  on  Broad- 
way, far  below  its  present  site,  and  a  small,  plain  building. 

I  need  not  say  much  about  his  preaching  and  ministry  in 
Philadelphia  and  New  York.  Through  a  large  part  of  his  life  he 
was  a  deputy  to  the  General  Convention,  and  being  a  splendid 
debater,  it  was  there  that  he  displayed  his  great  powers.  Some 
will  remember  the  great  debate  between  him  and  Dr.  Hawks. 

His  speech  on  Ritualism,  in  Baltimore  in  1871,  in  answer  to 
Dr.  De  Koven,  and  also  in  New  York  in  1874,  in  defense  of  those 
who  wanted  a  change  in  the  Baptismal  Office,  were  masterly — 
fine  examples  of  impassioned  logic. 

"Once  or  twice,"  says  Phillips  Brooks,  "  they  talked  of  mak- 
ing him  a  Bishop,  but  this  would  have  been  a  loss ;  the  great 
work  of  the  Church  lies  with  the  presbyters.  A  bishopric  would 
never  have  increased  his  dignity,  while  it  must  have  weakened 
his  p  wer."  The  results  of  his  ministry  were  profound  religious 
interest,  a  profound  respect  f)r  the  theology  of  the  Incarnation 
and  the  Atonement,  and  a  readiness  to  receive  profounder  views 
of  truth,  and  a  strong  missionary  spirit.  He  made  religion  seem 
the  noblest  fulfilment  of  lif.  and  faith — the  highest  action  of  the 
human  soul. 

He  visited  our  Seminary  once  to  see  his  friend,  Rev.  N.  P, 
Tillinghast  (1842),  and  said,  "  You  are  all  hill  and  dale,"  as  if 
surprised  at  the  rolling  country. 

When  he  was  seventy  years  of  age  he  resigned  his  parish  and 
went  to  Pomfret,  Connecticut,  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  days. 

Tyng,  Stone  and  Vinton  are  the  names  of  three  mighty  men  in 
the  Gospel  of  Christ,  all  with  different  gifts  and  powers  but 
devoted  to  the  one  work  of  saving  men,  and  all  now  sharing  the 
same  reward,  after  unusually  long  and  successful  service.  We 
do  well  to  remember  them  and  to  tell  those  who  knew  them  not. 
As  Lowell  writes  of  men  in  the  State,  so  we  may  say  of  them: 

"  Cast  in  the  massive  mould 
Of  those  high-statured  ages  old. 
Which  into  grander  forms  our  mortal  metal  ran  ; 
.     .     .     A  great  man's  memory  is  a  thiug 
To  bind  us  as  when  here  he  knit  our  golden  ring." 

It  was  through  Dr.  Vinton's  instrumentality  that  Phillips 
Brooks  entered  our  ministry.  It  was  said  of  Sir  Humphry  Davy, 
the  great  chemist,  that  his  greatest  discovery  was  that  of  Fara- 


300  PhilIvIps  Brooks. 

day's  genius;  so  it  might  be  said  that  Dr.  Vinton  did  the  Church 
a  great  service  in  helping  into  its  ministry  this  great  preacher. 

Phillips  Brooks  came  to  our  Seminary  as  a  communicant  from 
Dr.  Vinton's  church  in  Boston,  and  I  first  saw  him  as  he  got  out 
of  a  carriage  at  the  Seminary  gate  in  October,  1856.     He  brought 
me  a  letter  from  Bishop  Eastburn,  who,  being  an  intimate  friend 
of  my   brother   George,   had   written   to   me   instead   of  to  Dr. 
Sparrow,  the  Dean,  as  was  usually  done.     Of  a  Unitarian  family, 
his  mother's  Andover  birth  and  training  made  her  heart  yearn 
for  Gospel  preaching  and  shrink  from  the  low  views  of  Christ  held 
by  the  Unitarians.     Hence,  though  he  had  received  Unitarian 
baptism,   which,   however,  was  with  water  and  in  the  words  of 
Christ,  he  went  with  his  parents  to  St.  Paul's  Church  and  entered 
the  Sunday-school.     After   graduating  at  Harvard  he  took  the 
post  of  usher  in  the  Boston  Latin  School,  where  his  failure  was 
so  complete  that  the  headmaster,  Francis  Gardner,  assured  him 
that  he   would   never   succeed  in    anything.     Dr.    Walker,    the 
President  of  Harvard,  advised  him  to  study  for  the  ministry,  but 
he  shrank  from  it.     He  came,  however,  to  the  Seminary  to  study 
theology,    but   with    no   fixed   resolve   to   enter    the    ministry, 
and     he    was     not     even    confirmed    until     his     first   vacation 
in    1857,    when   twenty-one   years   old.     He  was   very    tall    and 
being    thin     and     slim     in     figure     looked     even    taller     than 
later  in    life.     I    remember    bringing    him  out   in    my   carriage 
and    he  could    not  sit    up    straight  in    it    and   it  leaned  very 
much    to    his    side.     Bishop  Potter    recalls    that    he   was    first 
assigned  to  a  room  with  a  sloping  roof,  which  was  too  low  for  him, 
and  he  got  him  another  room  where  he  could  stand  up  straight. 
Brooks  reminded  me  that  when  he  was  here  he  had  asked  me  for 
the  post  of  Assistant  Librarian,    which  was,   however,   given  to 
some  one  else  who  needed  it  more,  as  I  thought  ;  I  made  a  mis- 
take in  not  giving  it  to  Brooks,  as  the  man  who  got  it  was  an  odd 
character.     In  his  second  year,  he  was  made  teacher  of  the  Pre- 
paratory Depa'tment  at  a  salary  of  three  hundred  dollars  a  year, 
and  started  it   most  successfully  on  its  useful  work  of  more  than 
thirty  years.     He  had  failed  as  a  teacher  in  Massachusetts,  but  he 
succeeded  in  Virginia.     His  year's  life  at  the  Seminary  brought 
out  his  powers  wonderfully.     As  Dr.  Allen  says,  "  Out  of  all  the 
years  of  his  life,    the  second   year   at   Alexandria   stands   forth 
supreme.     The  stamp  of  maturity  and   finality  is  on  his  work. 
He  has  come  to  full  possession  of  himself  in  the  greatness  of  his 


Brooks'  Seminary  Life.  301 

power."  His  classmates  were  noble,  earnest  men,  six  of  them 
missionaries,  but  he  far  excelled  them  in  literary  ability  particu- 
larly in  the  classics.  He  was  the  only  student  I  have  ever  known 
who  took  out  of  the  library  the  Latin  and  Greek  classics,  and 
kept  up  those  studies  while  here.  His  speeches  at  the  Rhetorical 
Society  were  much  admired  and  his  delivery  was  very  rapid  then, 
though  not  to  overcome  any  stammering  habit,  as  the  myths  say. 
The  new  library  building  had  lately  been  erected,  holding  the 
purchases  and  accumulations  of  the  thirty  years  preceding,  and 
he  never  again  had  such  opportunity  for  study  nor  so  drenched 
himself  in  books.  He  was  then  laying  up  a  store  for  future  use, 
accumulating  metaphors  and  similes,  jotting  down  other  men's 
and  hundreds  of  his  own.  Of  some  score  of  texts  and  subjects  on 
his  list  in  1859,  he  used  every  one  in  his  subsequent  ministry. 
He  went  very  little  in  society  but  was  absorbed  in  study  and  his 
work  as  teacher  and  in  the  expression  of  his  growing  thought, 
which  at  this  time  had  a  univers  dity  never  seen  later  on.  He 
enriched  his  vocabulary  by  memorizing  hundreds  of  hymns  and 
his  powers  of  expression  by  writing  a  poem  every  day.  He  and 
Pelham  Williams  often  walked  together.  He  was  always  very 
courteous,  docile,  quiet  and  modest,  though  then  an  independent 
and  profound  thinker,  never  captious  or  critical  in  class  or  ques- 
tions or  discussions,  as  some  smart  half-trained  young  men  are 
apt  to  be  in  order  to  show  off  their  own  knowledge.  Dr.  Sparrow 
said  that  he  was  always  the  best  scholar  in  his  classes. 

He  did  not  believe,  as  I  remember,  in  demoniacal  possess^'on,  but 
he  never  said  anything  against  it  when  I  taught  it.  He  wrote  an 
essay  in  my  class  on  St.  John,  chapter  vi,  strongly  combating 
Wiseman's  Roman  Catholic  views  ;  he  read  it  at  Commencement 
and  it  was  much  praised.  At  the  Seminary  Brooks  learned  to 
preach  at  the  mission  station  of  Sharon,  which  he  found  some- 
what run  down,  but  his  work  revived  it.  The  vestry  of  the 
Church  of  the  Advent  came  on  to  hear  him  and  went  over  to 
Sharon  and  called  him  immediately  after  his  ordination.  He  was 
ordained  Deacon  in  our  Seminary  Chapel  in  June,  1859,  by  Bishop 
Meade.  His  father  came  on  to  the  ordination  and  gave  me  a 
book  about  Andover.  He  preached  in  Philadelphia  a  sermon  on 
"Honey  out  of  the  rock,"  Deuteronomy  xxxii.  13,  which  at- 
tracted attention,  and  he  was  asked  to  repeat  it,  but  refused,  say- 
ing he  had  laid  it  aside,  as  he  did  not  wish  to  be  called  "  Mr. 
Honeyman."     A  friend  of  mine  heard  him  preach  in  May,  i860, 


30i  Brooks'  Seminary  Life. 

for  Dr.  Vinton  and  recalls  vividly  the  rapt  attention  of  the  older 
men  as  well  as  of  the  entire  congregation,  though  it  was  a  very 
warm  afternoon. 

We  may  well  believe  that  it  was  at  the  Seminary  he  learned  to 
preach,  as  he  writes  his  brother  of  his  work  at  Sharon,  "  1  feel  that 
I  am  better  for  the  work,  more  and  deeper  in  sympathy  with  simple, 
honest  men,  and  a  clearer  light  into  what  common  men's  minds 
are  doing,  and  how  they  may  be  taught  to  do  better  and  nobler 
things."  The  directness,  the  naturalness,  simplicity  andhuman- 
ness  in  his  marvelous  preaching  may  have  their  roots  ;:i  the  ad- 
dresses of  the  young  student  to  the  plain  folk  in  the  rude  chapel 
during  the  Seminary  life. 

Bishop  Brooks  said  shortly  before  his  death  that  the  most  prom- 
ising young  man  that  he  had  ever  known  in  all  his  student  days, 
at  school,  at  Harvard,  and  at  the  Seminary  was  Henry  A.  Wise,  Jr. 
He  and  Rev.  Henry  A.  Wise,  Jr.,  had  charges  in  Philadelphia  at 
the  same  time,  both  brilliant  preachers,  but  very  far  apart  in  their 
views  of  slavery  and  the  war,  and  Wise  soon  came  South,  finding 
himself  out  of  sympathy  with  opinions  in  Philadelphia.  They 
once  exchanged  pulpits  and  as  Brooks  came  out  of  Church, 
he  heard  a  man  say,  "  I  thought  Wise  was  going  to  preach,  or  I 
would  not  have  come  out  to-night." 

He  visited  our  Seminary  several  times,  and  on  both  of  his  later 
visits  I  walked  with  him  down  to  the  little  burying  ground,  to  see 
Dr.  Sparrow's  monument,  on  which  is  the  inscription,  "  Seek  the 
truth,  come  whence  it  may,  cost  what  it  will."  He  always 
attended  the  Seminary  Alumni  reunions  at  General  Conven- 
tions and  spoke  very  warmly  at  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore 
of  his  Seminary  life.  At  the  latter  place  in  1892  he  playfully 
offered  me  a  cigar.  I  was  called  on  by  Bishop  Randolph  to 
ask  the  blessing  though  nine  Bishops  were  present,  more  worthy 
than  myself  I  heard  Dr.  Brooks  preach  in  his  own  church  in 
Boston  and  I  went  up  and  spoke  to  him,  and  he  said,  "I  saw 
you." 

At  the  General  Convention  in  Baltimore,  he  was  in  great  demand 
as  a  preacher.  A  Baltimore  rector  made  this  announcement: 
"In  the  morning  Bishop  Brooks  will  preach  in  this  church  and 
in  the  afternoon  Bishop  Potter.  Those  who  desire  seats  should 
come  an  hour  before  service  in  the  morning  and  a  half-hour  in  the 
afternoon." 

How  strange  that  he  should  have  been  taken  so  soon  !     A  halo 


Brooks'  Preaching.  303 

surrounds  him,  and  his  death  in  his  prime  seems  to  put  him  above 
us.     An  intense  interest  has  been  felt  in  everything  connected 
with  hira.     An  Englishman  lately  visiting  here  wished  to  see  the 
spot  where  he  stood  when  speaking  on  his  last  visit.     At  the  Mis- 
sionary Conference  in  Washington  and  at  the  Church  Congress 
the  most  w(niderful  admiration  of  him  was  shown,  and  the  churches 
were  packed  long  before   he  began  to  preach,  whenever  it  was 
known  that  he  would  be  there.     He  was  the  ^econd  American  to 
preach  in  Westmin.ster  Abbey,  and  it  happened  that  I  was  there  that 
very  day  and  heard  hira    He  wore  a  black  gown  ;  he  towered  above 
all  others.     He  did  not  make  much  impression  then,  as  Moncure 
D.  Conway  wrote,  and  I  do  not  wonder.     It  is  a  hard  place  to 
speak  in  ;  he  seemed  nervous,  and   he  was  not  heard.     His  voice 
failed  on  the  high  notes.     He  read  his  sermon,  and  he  was  not  so 
good   in  reading  as  without  notes.     I  saw  many  eminent   men 
sitting  up  in  front.     Afterwards  when  he  preached  in  England  he 
made   more   and   more   impression.     An  article   in    the   London 
Times,  which  I  cannot  clearly  recall,  gave   the  best  view  of  his 
preaching  which  I  have   seen.     I  met  him  again   that  year   in 
Kensington  Museum,  and  again  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  stood 
with  him  when  Dean  Stanley  was  preaching  for  the  Susten-ation 
Fund      I  remember  Stanley  saying  that  ministers  ought  not  to  be 

Brahmins 

I  will  print  a  sweet  note  he  wrote  me  in  reply  to  my  letter  ex- 
pressing gratification  at  his  election  as  Bishop  of  Massachusetts  : 
233  Clarendon  Street,  Boston,  Jun- 3,  i8gi. 

Dear  Dr.  Packard  : 

Such  a  kind  note  from  such  an  old  and  valued  friend  gives  me 
great  pleasure.  If  I  am  to  be  a  Bishop,  I  shall  try  t. .  do  no  dishonor 
forav  teachers  and  my  Seminary,  and  no  approval  will  be  more 
welcome  than  theirs.     I  hope  that  you  are  well  and  happy,  my 

dear  Doctor,  and  I  am. 

Yours  gratefully  and  faithfully, 

Phillips   Brooks. 

I  give  a  note  he  wrote  Dr.  Slaughter  March  17,  1890  : 
My  Dear  Dr.  Slaughter  : 

I  thank  you  very  much  for  sending  me  your  most  interesting 
memorial  of  Rev.  George  A.  Smith.  Your  story  of  him  has 
brought  back  the  picturesque  Virginia  life  of  which  I  caught  sight 
for  three  delightful  years,  and  I  have  seemed  to  see  it  all  again, 
and  its  glow  has  warmed  our  cold  New  England  sky,  and  so  I  am 

vour  debtor  and 

Sincerely  yours, 

Phillips  Brooks. 


304  Dr.  Lindsay's  Paper. 

[My  father  felt  injustice  was  done  the  Seminary  in  the  account 
of  it  in  the  Life  of  Bishop  Brooks  and  in  the  inferences  drawn  from 
that  account  by  some  newspapers.  Hence  I  give  below  some  por- 
tions of  a  very  able  paper  read  before  the  Clerical  Association  of 
Massachusetts  by  Rev.  John  S.  Lindsay,  D.  D.,  not  being  able  to 
give  the  whole  for  lack  of  space. — Editor.] 

"  It  is  the  five  years  after  college  which  are  the  most  decisive 
in  a  man's  career  ;  any  event  which  happens  then  has  its  full  in- 
fluence."— P.  Brooks. 

Three  of  these  five  years  were  spent  at  the  Virginia  Seminary. 
Brooks'  outcries  against  the  Seminary  in  his  letters  and  diary 
written  while  there  are  like  the  complaint  of  a  homesick  boy,  in 
the  midst  of  new  and  unlike  conditions.  His  Southern  life  was 
very  much  unlike  New  England  life,  and  this  young,  ardent,  ob- 
servant and  intelligent  man  placed  among  cultivated,  refined  and 
religious  people  of  a  different  type  found  great  influences  enter 
his  life.  He  often  spoke  with  admiration  and  affection  of  his  fel- 
low students  and  of  the  Seminary  people,  making  this  remark  to 
Dr.  Lindsay:  "The  Connecticut  people  have  the  simplicity  of 
the  Virginians,  but  not  their  grace."  Some  New  England  people 
have  thought  that  Virginia  was  so  inferior  to  Massachusetts  that 
it  was  a  descent  for  Brooks  to  come  from  Harvard  to  the  Virginia 
Seminary.  The  facts  do  not  warrant  such  a  conclusion.  Virginia's 
statesmen,  orators,  and  educated  gentlemen  have  never  been  sur- 
passed elsewhere.  William  and  Mary  College  was  in  its  earlier 
stage  of  more  advanced  order  than  Harvard,  and  turned  out  such 
men  as  Jefferson,  the  Randolphs,  Monroe,  Marshall,  and  later  on 
the  Tylers,  Tuckers,  Winfield  Scott  and  many  others  ;  many 
Virginians  graduated  at  Princeton,  Yale,  Harvard,  the  English 
and  Scotch  Universities,  and,  greatest  of  all,  her  own  University 
of  Virginia.  Prof  Charles  A.  Briggs,  a  student  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Virginia,  declares  that  he  regarded  it  as  the  greatest 
University  in  the  United  States  and  that  there  he  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  his  learning  under  its  unexcelled  professors.  One  of  them, 
William  B.  Rogers,  founded  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech- 
nology, and  he  made  the  University  of  Virginia  the  model  of  the 
new  school.  The  Church  in  Virginia  was  equal  to  any  Church 
of  any  State  in  intellectual  ability  and  pulpit  power,  when  Brooks 
was  at  the  Seminary,  Of  course  the  Seminary  then  was  not  the 
ideal  theological  school  of  to-day  ;  no  less  backward  were  the  law 
and  medical  schools.     A  former  professor  of  the  Harvard  Medical 


Brooks'  Debt  to  the  Seminary.        305 

School  says  that  when  a  student  there  one  of  his  professors  read 
lectures  to  his  class  on  a  most  important  subject  written  ten  years 
before  and  never  revised.  As  Dean  Zabriskie  Gray  said,  "the 
Seminary  of  Virginia  was  abreast  with  the  times  when  he  knew 
it  as  a  student,  and  did  its  work  well." 

The  library  of  the  Seminary  has  been  ridiculed,  but  it  contained 
eight  thousand  volumes,  many  of  them  valuable  books.  Among 
others  was  the  Abbe  Migne's  edition  of  the  Latin  and  Greek 
Fathers,  a  fine  set  of  the  classics  and  the  standard  theological  works 
of  that  day.  The  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers  were  in  few  libraries 
of  this  country.  There  was  also  a  collection  of  slabs  from  Nine- 
veh secured  by  Dr.  Packard  through  the  liberality  of  a  friend,  so 
valuable  that  the  Smithsonian  Institution  offered  to  buy  them, 
and  failing  in  that  had  plaster  casts  of  them  taken. 

His  teachers  and  his  fellow  students  are  the  two  forces  most 
largely  affecting  any  man  at  a  seminary.  Of  the  three  professors 
much  has  been  siid  already  and  their  influence  must  have  been 
great.  Dr.  Sparrow  was  the  greatest  teacher  of  his  time  in  this 
Church,  and  his  boldness,  fairness,  spirituality  and  intellectual 
keenness  had  a  powerful  influence  on  Phillips  Brooks,  as  he  him- 
self has  declared  in  his  letter  about  Dr.  Sparrow.  The  students 
of  the  Virginia  Seminary  fifty  years  ago  were  from  all  parts  of  the 
country.  With  Brooks  there  were  Wingfield,  Potter,  Randolph, 
Bishops  of  this  Church  ;  Cheney  and  Latane,  Bishops  of  the  Re- 
formed Episcopal  Church,  and  presbyters  like  the  Appletons, 
Matlack,  Cosby,  Rich  irds.  Wise,  Pelham  and  Walter  Williams, 
Elliot,  Strong,  Tyng  and  Yocura.  These  associates  of  Brooks 
were  men  of  force  and  fine  culture.  The  accomplished  biogra- 
pher ot  P.iillips  Brooks  analyzing  his  spiritual  experiences  while 
at  the  Seminary  pronounces  the  change  in  his  mind  a  conversion. 
His  whole  spiritual  being  passed  into  a  new  stage.  One  of  his 
classmates  at  Harvard,  a  distinguished  layman  in  Boston,  said  in 
public,  that  when  Brooks  left  home  to  go  to  the  Virginia  Semi- 
nary he  wa■^  a  fine  Boston  boy,  no  more  earnest  than  the  rest  of 
his  set,  who  were  amazed  when  he  iring  that  one  of  their  class 
was  to  be  confirmed  at  Ch  is'.'s  Church,  Cambridge.  When  he 
came  back  after  his  three  years  course,  he  was  a  serious  consecra- 
ted man,  on  fire  with  devotion  to  Christ  and  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  Well  might  this  old  friend  ask,  "  What  was  there  in 
the  Virginia  Seminary  that  wrought  this  change?"  Some  ele- 
ments there  may  be  named.     An  evangelical  spirit  pervaded  pro- 


3o6  Brooks'  Conversion. 

fessors,  students  and  the  people  of  the  neighborhood  and  that 
makes  men  serious  and  devoted. 

The  piety  of  the  students  was  simple  and  strong.  An  intense 
missionary  zeal  kept  alive  by  the  Seminary  men  and  often  aroused 
by  visits  of  foreign  missionaries  to  their  alma  mater,  influenced 
him  deeply.  Every  foreign  mission  of  this  Church  from  Dr.  Hill, 
at  Athens,  to  Bishop  Kinsolving,  in  Brazil,  more  than  fifty  years, 
was  founded  by  an  alumnus  of  this  Seminary.  The  spiritual  life 
vi^as  specially  cultivated  at  the  Seminary  in  two  ways.  The  Fac- 
ulty meeting  held  every  Thursday  evening  in  Prayer  Hall  was  a 
gathering  of  all  the  students  with  the  three  professors,  when  a 
few  prayers  were  said,  and  each  professor  gave  a  short  instruction 
or  meditation.  This  was  a  practical  searching  appeal  to  young 
men  preparing  for  the  ministry,  or  a  lofty  monologue  upon  some 
great  theme  of  Christian  thought  or  life.  For  three  years  Phillips 
Brooks  heard  these  simple  spiritual  addresses. 

The  second  influence  was  the  class  prayer-meetings  on  Satur- 
day evenings.  The  members  of  the  class  in  turn  led  the  prayer- 
meeting  and  each  one  would  be  called  on  to  pray  at  diflerent 
times.  These  prayers  may  have  been  crude  and  imperfect,  but 
they  brought  meu  face  to  face  with  spiritual  things.  Some  one 
has  said  "  One  thing  we  know,  that  this  Seminary  taught  Phillips 
Brooks  to  pray."  He  was  noted  for  his  power  in  public  prayer. 
The  President  of  Harvard  University  said  he  had  known  but  two 
ministers  whose  extemporaneous  prayers  had  any  distinct  quality, 
any  real  power  to  uplift  the  soul  in  intelligent  worship,  and  one  of 
these  was  Phillips  Brooks.  In  1865  Brooks,  then  little  known  in 
his  native  State,  was  asked  to  make  the  prayer  on  commemoration 
day  at  Harvard.  Of  that  prayer  no  line  was  written  and  no  trace 
remains,  but  it  made  him  distinguished.  The  poems  of  Mrs. 
Julia  Ward  Howe,  of  Emerson,  of  Holmes,  and  the  great  Ode  of 
Lowell  were  all  eclipsed  by  that  simple  appeal  to  the  God  and 
Father  of  all.  Thomas  W.  Higgiuson  said  that  he  felt  that  lie 
had  "never  heard  living  prayer  before;  that  here  was  a  man 
talking  straight  into  the  face,  into  the  heart  of  God."  This 
unique  power  of  prayer  was  not  the  work  of  the  Seminary  alone, 
but  it  cultivated  the  power.  Those  long,  calm  years  of  retired 
life  at  the  Virginia  Seminary  of  spiritual  culture,  of  personal  re- 
ligious instruction,  of  free  speech  to  plain  people,  of  frequent  ex- 
temporaneous praying,  influenced  him  most  powerfully  for  his 
glorious  work. 


His  Brother's  Testimony.  307 

Rev.   Dr.   Arthur  Brooks  wrote   to  the  Seminary   professors, 
January  3,    1893,  on  the  part  of  his  brothers  :   "  We  know  how 
constantly  and  lovingly  his  mind  reverted  to  his  Seminary  days, 
and  how  strong  was  his  sense  of  the  value  of  the  preparation  for 
his  great  work  that  he  there  received.     The  hearty  fellowship,  the 
deep  religious  spirit,  the  large  views  of  the  Church's  life,  which 
were  marks  of  his  action,  he  was  always  ready  to  ascribe  to  the 
influence  of  the  Seminary,  whose  work  is  thus  iden  ified  with  his. 
It  will  ever  be  a  satisfaction,  as  we  mourn  his  loss,  to  know  that 
from  the  same  place  are  going  forth  the  same  influences  which 
can    help  men  to  carry  on  the  work  which  he  loved  so  deeply. 
*    *    *     And  we  rejoice  in   the  tie  of  loving  friendship  to  the 
great  life  which  is  gone,  by  which  we  shall  ever  feel  ourselves 
united  to  your  honored  and  valued  institution." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
LATER  MEMORIES. 

MANY  have  asked  me  to  go  fully  into  the  details  of  the  Semi- 
nary life,  its  early  professors  and  students,  as  so  many  of 
the  old  men  have  passed  away,  and  the  younger  men  do  not 
know  the  old  events.  A  generation  has  arisen  that  knew  not 
Joseph,  and  we  need  to  tell  them  of  our  history,  that  they  may 
honor  the  old  men  who  founded  the  Seminary  and  carry  on  the 
good  work  which  they  began  in  faith  and  love.  This  I  have  done 
in  part  and  I  continue  the  subject. 

I  have  in  these  Recollections  mentioned  many  names  of  old 
friends  and  acquaintances.  Of  course  it  would  be  an  impossibility 
to  name  all  whom  I  have  loved  or  even  known  intimately,  whom 
"  I  have  loved  long  since  and  lost  awhile."  Some  may  feel  that 
I  have  been  neglectful  in  naming  some  and  not  all,  but  in  such 
a  large  acquaintance  this  would  be  impossible.  Of  the  living  I 
rarely  speak.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  in  my  long  association  of 
sixty-five  years  in  this  Seminary  I  can  recall  nothing  but  the 
kindly  words  and  deeds  of  those  whom  I  have  known,  my  col- 
leagues, the  trustees,  and  the  many  hundred  students,  whom  I 
trust  soon  to  meet  again,  and  I  have  had  them  all  often  in  my 
thoughts  and  prayers. 

These  memories  of  past  days  may  recall  to  those  still  living 
the  associations  of  this  holy  place,  and  preserve  for  the  younger 
alumni  the  fading  lines  of  the  past.  Like  the  old  Covenanter 
who  .spent  his  last  years  in  deepening  with  his  chisel  the  almost 
illegible  inscriptions  on  the  tombstones  of  those  who  were  slain 
for  the  Covenant,  I  have  endeavored  to  wipe  the  dust  and  moss 
from  some  names  of  our  alumni  who  may  be  forgotten,  and  to 
acquaint  a  later  generation  with  the  excellencies  of  men  "  of 
whom  the  world  was  not  worthy."  One  subject  has  led  to 
another,  and  as  John  Bunyan  said  ol  his  Pilgrim's  Progress,  "  Siill 
as  I  pulled  it  came,  and  so  I  penned."  The  history  of  the  Church 
in  Virginia  for  seventy-five  years  is  bound  up  with  this  Seminary. 

Like  the  early  Chrisiians  the  students  in  the  earlier  years  had 
all  things  in  common — a  common  woodpile,  where  each  sawed 
his  wood  and  carried  it  to  his  room  ;  a  common  cruse  of  oil, 
where  each  freely  helped  himself.     The  bill  for  board  was  only 

308 


The  Meeting  of  the  Brethren.  309 

seventy-five  dollars  a  year.  The  students  took  the  management 
of  the  refectory  pretty  much  in  their  own  hands  and  constituted 
themselves  an  imperium  in  imperio,  called  "  The  Meeting  of  the 
Brethren."  There  would  be  occasionally  a  bread  and  butter  re- 
bellion, when  the  faculty  would  meet  the  students  for  consulta- 
tion ;  and  I  remember  on  one  occasion  a  difiSculty  was  settled 
by  a  resolution  that  the  students  should  not  be  limited  in  their 
demand  for  dried  apples.  Those  were  times  of  plain  living  and, 
we  trust,  of  high  thinking,  of  primitive  simplicity.  No  carpets 
covered  the  floor,  the  age  of  luxury  had  not  yet  come  ;  it  was 
the  iron  age  of  the  Seminary.  The  postoffice  was  in  Alexandria 
and  each  student  in  turn  walked  in  and  brought  out  the  daily 
mail. 

Three  professors  were  then  considered  amply  sufficient  for  in- 
struction, and  all  these  had  to  attend  the  weekly  sermon  by  a 
student  and  criticize  it.  Some  who  have  been  most  successful 
preachers  here  plumed  their  unfledged  wings  for  a  higher  flight. 
The  demand  in  seminaries  now  is  for  a  greater  subdivision  of 
labor  growing  out  of  the  multiplied  subjects  of  study. 

I  have  mentioned  some  changes  in  the  customs  and  practices 
of  the  Church.  The  black  gown  was  then  worn  both  in  the  desk 
and  chancel,  and  this  was  generally  the  case  and  not  peculiar  to 
Virginia.  Dr.  Staunton  of  New  York  said  lately,  "  The  surplice 
has  only  of  late  years  obtained  supremacy  over  the  black  gown. 
The  latter  gaiment  was  always  worn  in  the  pulpit,  at  marriages, 
baptisms  and  funerals  in  private  houses,  and  generally  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  Holy  Communion  to  the  sick.  I  remember 
well  even  an  ordination  at  which  all  the  clergy  present  except 
the  bishop  were  in  black  gowns." 

The  editor  of  the  Church  Kalendar  sa.ys,  "  The  Christmas  day 
in  which  the  white  robe  first  made  its  appearance  is  fresh  in  my 
memory,  and  a  wonderful  sight  it  was  to  a  child  when  the  minis- 
ter disappeared  under  the  great  pulpit  (the  only  space  allowed 
for  robing  room)  white  and  speedily  came  out  black."  So  it 
used  to  be  in  Trinity  Church,  Washington.  After  robing,  the 
minister  would  part  the  curtains  nearest  the  pulpit  stairs  and 
ascend  the  pulpit.  On  one  occasion,  a  minister  not  observing  that 
these  curtains  could  be  parted,  did  not  know  how  to  reach  the 
pulpit  and  coming  out  from  the  rear  asked  to  be  shown  the  way 
up.  The  preacher  always  wore  black  silk  gloves  as  well  as  the 
white  bands,  says  Dr.  Staunton. 

20 


3IO  The  Design  op  the  Seminary. 

The  design  of  the  founders  of  the  Seminary  has  been  fulfilled. 
It  was  to  be  Protestant.  Our  Church  is  the  only  one  which  bears 
this  name  upon  its  forehead.  It  is  not  only  Protestant,  when  it 
protests  against  the  idolatry  and  superstition  of  the  corrupt 
Church  of  Rome,  but  it  is  Protestant  in  a  positive  sense,  as  hold- 
ing in  their  purity  all  the  articles  of  the  Christian  faith.  And 
how  shall  we  determine  what  are  the  articles  of  the  Christian 
faith?  Our  Sixth  Article  answers  :  "  Holy  Scripture containeth 
all  things  necessary  to  salvation  ;  so  that  whatsoever  is  not  read 
therein,  nor  may  be  proved  thereby,  is  not  to  be  required  of  any 
man,  that  it  should  be  believed  as  an  article  of  faith,  or  be 
thought  requisite  or  necessary  to  salvation." — words  which  de- 
serve to  be  written  in  letters  of  gold  on  the  portals  of  all  Theologi- 
cal Seminaries.  Thus  does  our  Church  lead  not  one  foot  on  Tra- 
dition and  another  on  Scripture,  but  its  whole  weight  on  Holy 
Scripture.  Whatever  any  of  its  ministers  may  teach  on  this  point, 
our  Church  maintains  the  sufficiency  of  Scripture.  Our  Prayer- 
book  is  Protestant  throughout. 

It  was  to  be  an  Episcopal  Seminary.  This  is  another  distinctive 
title.  Justice  has  sometimes  not  been  done  us,  in  our  consistent 
adherence  to  the  distinctive  peculiarities  of  our  Church,  and  in  our 
observance  of  all  its  forms  and  rubrics.  We  have  stood  here  firmly 
on  the  ground  of  Hooker  and  Bishop  White.  Hooker,  as  Keble  in 
his  preface  to  Hooker's  Works  admits,  "never  ventured  to  urge 
the  exclusive  claims  of  the  Church  of  England,  or  to  connect  the 
succession  with  the  validity  of  the  Holy  Sacraments  ;  "  and 
Bishop  White  said  that,  "  at  the  same  time  that  the  Church  of 
England  decidedly  set  her  foot  on  the  ground  of  the  Apostolic 
origin  of  Episcopacy,  she  carefully  avoided  passing  a  judgment 
on  the  validity  of  the  ministry  of  other  Churches."  (Church 
Catechism  L,ectures.) 

Bishop  Johns,  the  President  of  this  Seminary,  has  publicly  said, 
' '  that  the  ecclesiastical  polity  inculcated  here  has  been  that  set  forth 
in  the  preface  to  the  Ordination  service — conservative,  but  not 
exclusive."  That  three  orders  have  existed  from  the  Apostles' 
times,  and  no  other  ministry  is  to  be  recognized  "  in  this  Church." 
Professor  May,  who,  for  twenty  years,  taught  Church  Polity  here, 
said,  "We  affirm  with  great  boldness,  that  from  the  Apostles' 
time,  there  have  been  three  orders  of  ministry  in  the  Church  of 
Christ.  On  the  ground  of  this  affirmation,  all  Episcopalians 
stand  as  one  man." 


An  EvangeIvIcai.  Seminary.  311 

It  was  to  be  Evangelical.  The  founders  of  this  Seminary  held, 
that  there  were  things  in  the  Gospel  to  be  deHvered  first  of  all^ 
that  there  were  weightier  matters  of  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  of  the 
Law,  and  that  the  weightiest  of  all  was  the  doctrine  of  a  complete 
justification  by  the  sole  merits  and  death  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour, 
Jesus  Christ.  It  was  i\i^  place  this  doctrine  held  in  their  system 
which  gave  them  the  name  of  Evangelical.  The  sun  is  seen  in 
the  Arctic  regions,  but  it  is  low  down  in  the  horizon,  where  it  will 
scarcely  melt  an  icicle  ;  but  when  high  and  alone  in  the  zenith, 
nothing  is  hid  from  the  heat  thereof  But  while  professing  to  be 
Evangelical,  we  have  here  affected  no  broadness  of  opinion  on 
doctrinal  points.  We  have  been  suspicious  of  novelties  of  fine- 
spun philosophical  speculations.  We  have  held  that  Christianity, 
as  a  documentary  religion,  was  to  be  learned  2iXi6.  not  improved! 
We  have  had  too  deep  convictions  of  the  truth,  and  loved  it  too 
well  to  be  tolerant  of  error. 

It  was,  too,  the  anxious  desire  of  the  Founders  of  this  Semi- 
nary, that  it  should  be  distinguished  for  a  warm  and  fervent  spirit 
of  piety ;  that  religious  feeling  here  should  not  grow  cold  ;  that 
we  should  breathe  here  an  atmosphere  not  too  rarified  for  the 
breath  of  life  ;  that  the  power  of  Christ  in  the  soul  should  here  be 
experienced  in  fuller  and  deeper  measure  ;  and  that  spirituality, 
not  spurious,  should  be  cultivated  here.  They  hoped  that  Chris- 
tian love  here  would  rise  as  high  as  a  Missionary  temperature. 
Thus  was  this  Seminary  established  in  no  false  zeal,  but  with  a 
single  desire  to  promote  the  glory  of  Christ  in  the  salvation  of 
men.  Its  motto  might  well  be  :  For  Christ  and  the  Church.  It 
was  a  child  of  faith  and  prayer,  brought  in  its  infancy  to  Jesus, 
that  He  might  take  it  in  His  arms  and  bless  it.  It  was  minis- 
tered to,  for  a  long  time,  by  the  alms  of  devout  women— not  a  few 
of  Virginia.  It  is  a  great  and  blessed  thing,  that  we  can  look 
back  upon  such  a  beginning.  This  Seminary  is  rich  in  the  faith, 
which  dwelt  in  its  Founders.  This  is  its  best  endowment,  and 
has  made  it  like  a  field  which  the  Lord  hath  blessed. 

These  words  of  appreciation  from  two  of  our  great  Bishops  are 
given  here  : 

MiDDLETOWN,     CONN., 

TA       -n        T^      ^  II  June,  1806. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Packard,  ^ 

My  Dear  Brother: 
I  desire  to  convey  to  you  my  most  cordial  good  wishes  for  the 
well    being  and   prosperity    of  a   Theological  Seminary  of  our 


312  Bishops  Williams  and  Potter. 

Church,  in  which  the  great  fundamental  truths  of  the  inspiration 
and  integrity  of  the  Holy  Scripture  as  the  Word  of  God,  and  the 
Catholic  doctrines  of  the  incarnation,  the  vicarious  sacrifice,  the 
real  resurrection  and  ascension  of  our  Lord,  and  the  personality 
and  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  hearts  of  believers,  as  well  as 
in  the  Church  of  God  itself,  are  taught  as  parts  of  the  one  faith 
once  delivered  to  the  saints. 

So  may  it  continue  throughout  all  generations. 

I  am,  my  dear  brother,  truly  and  faithfully  yours, 

J.  Williams. 


New  York,  October  7, 1883. 
Dear  Dr.  Packard  : 

Your  note  was  a  great  comfort  and  gratification  to  me,  and  I 
am  glad  to  have  your  assurance  that  in  the  large  task  that  has  so 
unexpectedly  come  to  me,  I  may  have  your  sympathy  and  prayers. 
I  have  a  difficult  and  delicate  work  before  me,  and  I  hope  that  in 
the  doing  of  it  my  fathers  and  brethren  will  judge  me  gently  and 
bear  with  me  patiently.  I  shall  be  glad  if  you  will  let  me  see 
you  when  you  are  in  New  York  ;  and  I  am  always,  dear  Dr. 
Packard, 

With  grateful  respect  and  affection, 

Faithfully  Yours, 

H.  C.  Potter. 

Bishop  Potter's  kind  attentions  and  affection  have  been  a  source 
of  great  pleasure  to  me  all  these  years.  I  need  say  nothing  more 
of  this  "  brother,  whose  praise  is  in  the  gospel  throughout  all  the 
churches." 

In  speaking  of  the  benefactors  of  the  Seminary  we  can  not 
enumerate  all,  and  must  of  necessity  omit  the  mention  of  not  a 
few,  whose  alms  are  recorded  in  that  book  of  the  Divine  remem- 
brance, where  no  good  work  fails  of  notice,  and  from  which  no 
work  of  faith,  no  work  of  love,  is  ever  obliterated. 

We  shall  ever  remember  with  gratitude  the  friends  who  have 
made  provision  for  its  necessities,  especially  those  who  have 
aided  us  when  its  prospects  were  dark. 

A  second  era  in  the  history  of  the  Seminary  was  the  consecra- 
tion, in  1858,  of  Aspinwall  Hall,  erected  by  the  munificence  of 
Messrs.  William  A.  and  John  L,.  Aspinwall,  through  the  sug- 
gestion of  Bishop  Bedell.  It  was  a  day  long  to  be  remembered 
in  our  annals.  Bishops  Hopkins,  Smith,  Polk,  Bedell, 
Meade  and  Johns,  with  about  fifty  Clergy,  were  present. 
Addresses  were  delivered  by  Bishops  Meade,  Johns,  and  Bedell. 


Benefactors  of  the  Seminary.        313 

The  latter  said  in  his  address,  that  his  heart  gushed  out  in 
emotion  in  remembrance  of  early  days  of  Seminary  life,  which,  by 
their  influence  on  his  ministry,  had  become  inexpressibly  pre- 
cious. "  What  do  we  not  owe  to  its  faithful  theological  training, 
and  to  the  atmosphere  of  true  spiritual  religion,  which  is  here 
generated,  and  kept  surcharged  with  the  Christ  life?  " 

John  Bohlen,  with  his  mother  and  sister,  erected  Bohlen  Hall, 
and  also,  jointly  with  his  sister,  gave  $4,000  toward  the  Library 
building.  Elliot  Cresson,  of  Philadelphia,  bequeathed  $5,000  to 
this  Seminary.  Mrs.  Sophia  Jones  placed  in  the  hands  of  Bishop 
Meade  $5,000,  which  he  gave  towards  the  Library  building. 

The  funds  of  the  Seminary,  which  were  in  Virginia  bank  stocks, 
were  entirely  lost  by  the  war.     It  happened  providentially  that 
John  Johns,  of  Maryland,  cousin  of  Bishop  Johns,  had  made  a 
bequest  to  the  Seminary  just  before  the  war  of  $15,000,  $6,000  of 
which  was  found  to  have  been  unpaid  and  to  the  credit  of  the 
Seminary  in  a  bank  in  Baltimore.     With  that  we  started  again. 
S.  G.  Wyman,  of  Baltimore,  gave  us  $5,000  and  helped  in  erect- 
ing the  gymnasium  called  Wyman  Hall.     Our  good  friend  Dr. 
Dyer,  in  New  York,  came  to  our  assistance  and  raised  a  large 
sum  ;  Rev.  Dr.  R.  H.   McKim  raised  several  thousands  for  us  ; 
Alexander  Brown  gave  $1,000,  and  others  helped  us  on.     Anson 
Phelps  Dodge,  who  married  Miss  Mitty  Drew,  handed  me  a  check 
for  $1,750  for  immediate  expenses  of  the  Seminary,  and  his  note 
for  $10,000.     I  went  to  Bishop  Johns  with  it ;  he  saw  my  excite- 
ment and  he  was  equally  well  pleased.     Mr.  Dodge  subsequently 
added  large  sums,  having  given  in  all  $33,000.  so  that  he  is  one 
of  our  greatest  benefactors.     Rev.  A.  G.  P.  Dodge,  Jr.,  of  Georgia, 
his  son,  used  his  means  most  liberally  in  building  up  the  Church 
in  Georgia.     Many  others  came  to  our  assistance.     Rev.  Edward 
W.  Appleton,  D.  D.,  of  the  class  of  1857,  sent  $100  each  to  Dr. 
Sparrow  and  myself  at  Easter  for  some  years  after  the  war,  and 
then   $50  for  awhile,  and  has  been  always  most  generous  and 
kind  to  me.     He  and  his  brother  Samuel  E.  were  in  the  same 
class,  and  were  wonderfully  alike,  being  twins,  and  many  amus- 
ing mistakes  were  made  about  them. 

Through  Edward  Appleton  I  received  an  invitation  to  spend  a 
fortnight  on  Lake  Erie  at  Mr.  Jay  Cooke's  splendid  summer 
home.  While  not  a  benefactor  of  the  Seminary  Jay  Cooke  has 
always  been  most  generous  in  his  use  of  wealth,  spending  one- 
tenth  of  his  income,  his  rector,  Mr.  Appleton,  told  me,  in  religious 


314  Benefactors  of  the  Seminary. 

and  charitable  uses,  amounting  one  year  to  $60,000.  He  is  a 
wonderful  example  of  God's  blessing  on  those  who  honor  Him 
with  their  means,  for  losing  all  in  the  panic  of  1873,  he  honestly 
gave  up  everything  he  owned,  but  was  enabled  to  retrieve  his 
fortune  and  now  lives  in  an  honored  old  age. 

Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Appleton  was  rector  for  forty  years  of  one 
parish,  and  is  now  rector  etneritus.  I  can  never  forget  these  kind 
brothers  alike  in  their  warm  affection  for  me.  I  add  here  a  letter 
from  him  : 

PHII,ADELPHIA,/a«.  7,  l8g6. 

I  can  never  express  my  gratitude  to  God  sufficiently  for  giving 
me  two  years'  residence  at  the  dear  old  Seminary.  You  are  most 
lovingly  associated  with  that  period.  Nearly  forty  years  have 
passed  since  I  left  that  happy  home,  and  I  have  never  ceased  to 
have  a  vivid  memory  of  that  institution  and  its  devoted  teachers. 
To  you  and  Drs.  May  and  Sparrow  I  owe  much  of  whatever  suc- 
cess I  have  had  in  the  ministry.  From  my  heart  of  hearts  I  thank 
you  for  all  you  did  for  me.  May  God  give  you  light  at  eventide! 
Yours  affectionately, 

SaMUEI.   E.  APPI.ETON. 

Miss  Anne  Jones,  of  New  York,  gave  me  $20,000  for  the  Semi- 
nary at  different  times,  and  left  $64,000.  I  used  to  visit  her 
whenever  I  was  in  New  York  and  interested  her  in  the  Seminary. 
Her  father.  Rev.  Lot  Jones,  a  friend  and  classmate  of  my  brother 
George,  met  with  a  sudden  and  untimely  end  at  the  General  Con- 
vention of  1865.  He  fell  off  the  steps  of  St.  Luke's,  Philadelphia, 
after  attending  a  missionary  meeting — falling  some  ten  feet  and 
breaking  his  skull,  just  as  Reverdy  Johnson  did  at  the  Governor's 
Mansion,  in  Annapolis,  in  1876,  both  dying  immediately. 

Mr.  George  A.  Reinicker,  by  generous  gifts,  founded  a  lecture- 
ship and  an  annual  prize  for  elocution,  and  at  his  death  left  a 
bequest. 

Rev.  John  S.  Wallace,  an  alumnus,  gave  two  thousand  dollars 
to  found  two  annual  prizes  for  the  best  extemporaneous  discourse. 

Rev.  John  Blake  (1837)  was  a  chaplain  in  the  Navy  all  his  life 
and  left  us  $1,000. 

Mrs.  G.  Zabriskie  Gray  made  a  generous  gift  to  the  Seminary 
in  memory  of  her  husband. 

Among  our  benefactors  should  be  included  those  who  have  con- 
tributed to  the  increase  of  the  Library.  In  1836,  it  contained  but 
2,500  volumes,  kept  in  two  rooms  in  the  lower  story  of  the  old 
building.     In  1839,  about  $2,000  were  expended  for  its  increase. 


Gifts  to  the  Library.  315 

Mrs.  Griswold,  the  widow  of  Bishop  Griswold,  gave  his  Library 
of  500  volumes.  The  Rev.  James  W.  Cooke,  the  Rev.  Malcolm 
McFarland,  the  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Trapnell,  and  the  Rev.  R.  C.  Moore, 
son  of  Bishop  Moore,  left  their  libraries  to  us  ;  the  Rev.  Doctor 
Kdward  Anthon,  of  New  York,  secured  to  us  a  legacy  of  Charles 
Betts  of  $1,000,  and  gave  us  a  complete  set  of  the  Bampton  Lec- 
tures, and  other  valuable  books.  The  Rev.  Alexander  Norris, 
when  dying,  made  mention  of  his  Alma  Mater,  moriens  reminis 
citur  Argos ;  and  bequeathed  us  a  magnificent  copy  of  Bag- 
ster's  Polyglot  Bible,  in  eight  languages.  The  Rev.  Fredericks. 
Wiley  (1848)  left  us  his  valuable  library,  as  did  the  Rev.  J.  S. 
Stone  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Giesy  ;  the  Rev.  W.  H.  C.  Robertson  in- 
tended leaving  us  $10,000  for  the  Library,  but  omitting  to  do  so, 
his  widow  acted  very  generously  about  it,  and  the  fund  now 
procures  the  new  books. 

Rev.  Horatio  Gray  (1852)  has  often  remembered  us  with  gifts. 
His  two  sisters  were  here  at  his  ordination,  and  stayed  at  Dr. 
May's.  One  of  them  married  his  classmate,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  H. 
Brooks,  a  noble  man.  Of  that  class  of  1852,  six  of  the  fifteen  sur- 
vive after  being  fifty  years  in  the  ministry. 

[Revs.  John  W.  Chesley  and  T.  Ferdinand  Martin  have  had 
very  gratifying  celebrations  of  their  fiftieth  anniversaries,  and 
Mr.  Chesley  is  laboring  actively  in  his  parish. — Editor.] 

B3^  the  aid  of  these  friends  we  have  now  suitable  and  handsome 
buildings  far  superior  to  that  first  edifice. 

Well  do  many  of  us  remember  the  old  Seminary  building,  in  its 
unadorned  simplicity,  destitute  of  all  architectural  ornament.  Its 
basement  was  low,  its  halls  narrow,  its  windows  with  small  panes  ; 
but  the  memory  of  many  old  students  fondly  turns  to  it,  as  to  no 
other  place.  In  that  humble  ba-ement  for  thirty  years  they  had 
assembled,  morning  and  evening,  to  unite  their  voices  in  the 
hymn,  which  rose  and  fell  upon  the  ear  of  the  passer-by,  and  in 
the  accents  of  prayer.  There  had  they  often  kneeled  together  be- 
fore the  table  of  Him  who  bore  His  own  cross  to  Calvary,  and 
there  had  they  drunk  of  the  cup  of  the  communion  of  the  blood  of 
Christ,  which,  hke  the  Eleven,  they  were  to  administer  to  others. 
There  had  they  tasted,  from  Sunday  to  Sunday,  the  good  Word 
of  God.  There  had  been  the  Faculty  meeting,  at  which  the 
tongues  of  Doctors  Keith  and  May  had  "dropped  manna,"  and 
of  which  Bishop  Bedell  said  :  "  With  still  deeper  reverential  feel- 
ings, do  I  recall  the  Thursday  evening  Faculty  meetings,  when 


3i6  The  Old  Buildings. 

our  Professors  met  us  in  the  basement  to  pray  with  and  for  us, 
and  to  remind  us,  week  by  week,  to  seek  for  higher  attainments 
in  the  Christian  life.  They  were  greatly  profitable  hours. ' '  There 
had  been  farewell  missionary  meetings,  not  without  tears,  and 
there  had  been  not  a  few  Ordinations.  Loving  hearts  were  turned 
toward  the  old  building  by  those  far  away,  who  loved  its  very 
walls,  for  they  had  found  it  a  refreshing  place  from  the  presence 
of  the  lyord.  Could  those  walls  have  spoken,  what  could  they  not 
have  told,  of  struggles  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  against  besetting 
sins,  of  strivings  after  a  clearer  and  fuller  understanding  of  the 
Gospel,  of  hours  of  spiritual  wrestling,  in  deciding  the  question 
where  they  could  best  labor,  so  as  to  glorify  Him  who  had  bought 
them  with  a  price.  And  as  a  vision  appeared  to  Paul  in  the  night, 
of  a  man  of  Macedonia  praying  him,  "  Come  over  into  Macedonia 
and  help  us,"  so  a  man  of  Africa  prayed  Bishop  Payne  to  come 
over  and  help  them,  and  a  man  of  China  stood  before  Bishop 
Boone,  till  prostrating  themselves  before  the  Master,  they  cried  : 
"  Here,  Lord,  are  we.     Send  us!" 

"  They  followed  Paul,  their  zeal  a  kindred  flame, 

Their  apostolic  charity  the  same  ; 
I/ike  him,  crossed  cheerfully  tempestuous  seas. 
Forsaking  country,  kindred,  friends  and  ease." 

The  new  chapel  was  erected  in  1880,  after  the  old  chapel  had 
been  condemned  as  unsafe.  It  cost  $11,000  of  which  $8,000  was 
from  the  gifts  of  the  Alumni  and  friends  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
We  were  assured  by  those  who  contributed,  of  their  unabated 
affection  for  the  dear  old  Seminary.  It  gave  us  special  pleasure 
to  know  that  this  Seminary  had  not  been  forgotten  in  Africa,  as 
the  chancel  rail  of  rosewood  brought  from  that  Dark  Continent  by 
Bishop  Penick  attested.  It  was  a  peculiarly  appropriate  memorial 
gift,  since  in  the  soil  which  nurtured  it  lies  all  that  is  mortal  of 
Launcelot  B.  Minor,  C.  Colden  Hoffman,  Robert  Smith,  H.  H. 
Holcomb,  and  E.  Messenger,  who  were  all  prepared  here  for  their 
holy  work. 

In  the  little  graveyard  at  Cape  Palmas,  near  enough  to  the 
ocean  to  hear  the  ceaseless  dash  of  its  waves,  these  five  martyrs 
now  rest  from  their  labors.  The  London  Christian  Observer  said  : 
"  We  do  not  commit  ourselves  to  terms  of  excessive  commenda- 
tion in  declaring  our  belief  that  the  annals  of  missionary  excel- 
lence do  not  furnish  a  brighter  example  than  that  of  Golden 
Hoffman." 


The  Old  Chapel.  317 

The  old  chapel  has  many  sacred  memories  of  those  who  have 
gone  from  us.  To  some  of  us  the  dead  still  live.  They  sit  in  the 
chancel ;  they  stand  at  the  desk  ;  they  fill  the  pews ;  they  look 
down  upon  us  with  a  look  passing  earthly  love.  It  has  also  kept 
for  a  brief  hour  the  forms  of  not  a  few  on  their  journey  to  their 
long  homes.  To  this  place  devout  men  carried  to  their  burial  Dr. 
Sparrow  and  Bishop  Johns,  "nor  was  there  wanting  the  costly 
tribute  of  tears  wrung  from  many  a  manly  heart,  to  wash  their 
way-worn  feet  for  their  burial." 

As  we  look  back  upon  the  history  of  the  Seminary,  and  ask  the 
secret  of  its  measure  of  success  and  favor  with  God  and  man,  we 
may  answer  with  Bishop  Johns  in  his  address  at  the  dedication  of 
Aspinwall  Hall,  that  it  is  owing  to  the  fact  "  that  care  has  been 
taken  that  in  this  school  the  doctrines  of  the  Protestant  Reforma- 
tion, which  are  the  doctrines  of  the  Scriptures,  and  of  which  j  usti- 
fication  by  faith  is  the  keynote,  should  be  taught  with  distinctness 
and  decision  ;  that  the  ecclesiastical  polity  inculcated  here  has 
been  that  set  forth  in  the  Preface  to  the  Ordination  Service — so 
much,  no  more,  no  less ;  in  a  word,  that  the  three  orders  have 
existed  from  the  Apostles'  times,  and  no  other  ministry  to  be 
recognized  '  in  this  Church.'  " 

We  may  further  say  that  one  thing  which  has  distinguished  the 
teaching  of  this  Seminary  has  been  its  firm  and  unshaken  faith  in 
the  system  of  doctrine  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  and  as  held  in 
the  Articles  of  our  Church.  We  have  held  fast  the  atoning  work 
of  our  Lord  as  a  satisfaction  to  the  divine  justice,  as  well  as  a  reve- 
lation of  the  divine  love  ;  justification  only  by  the  righteousness  of 
Christ ;  regeneration  only  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  the 
Sacraments  as  signs  and  seals  of  spiritual  grace. 

We  have  neither  gone  to  the  right  hand,  nor  to  the  left,  nor 
gone  beyond  the  Bible.  We  have  never,  to  my  knowledge,  been 
charged  with  unsoundness  in  doctrine.  The  Seminary  has  never 
slipped  the  cable  of  its  faith  and  drifted  with  the  tide  of  thought 
of  the  day.  It  has  discovered  no  new  truths  in  Scripture,  nor  any 
new  way  of  explaining  away  old  truths.  While  it  may  some- 
times have  been  charged  with  want  of  progress,  with  being  behind 
the  free  thought  of  the  day,  with  obsolete  views  of  inspiration,  it 
has  never  been  charged  with  rationalism.  We  may,  perhaps,  too 
much  have  left  the  scientists  to  take  care  of  themselves,  remem- 
bering how,  on  one  occasion,  the  enemies  of  Judah  fought  together 
and  destroyed  each  other. 


3i8        The  Future  of  the  Seminary. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  future  of  the  Seminary  ?  Will  it 
be  kept  up  to  the  point  it  has  reached  in  time  past,  and  will  it  go 
on  to  accomplish  the  end  for  which  it  was  founded  ?  We  would 
not  pry  between  the  folded  leaves  of  the  future,  which  the  only 
wise  God  has  concealed  from  our  sight.  We  might  well  rejoice 
with  trembling,  when  we  remember  how  other  seminaries, 
founded  in  faith  and  prayer,  have  destroyed  the  faith  of  their 
founders.  As  rash  and  unhallowed  speculation  abounds,  may  not 
the  foundations  here  be  shaken  ? 

But  let  us  look  forward  with  hope  and  trust  in  God  that  men 
even  more  devoted  than  those  who  have  gone  before  will  fill  this 
pulpit  ;  that  fervent  prayer  will  continue  to  ascend  here,  as  in- 
cense ;  that  the  Divine  Spirit  will  continue  to  shed  His  choicest 
influences  upon  this  hill  of  Zion,  as  the  dew  of  Hermon,  and  as 
the  dew  that  descended  upon  the  mountains  of  Zion,  where  the 
Lord  commanded  His  blessing,  even  life  forevermore  ;  that  He 
who  has  the  seven  stars  in  His  right  hand  will  consecrate  here  those 
who  shall  minister  before  Him,  and  who  shall  pour  out  the  holy 
oil  into  the  ever-burning  lamps  ;  that  this  Seminary  will  flourish, 
the  light  and  hope  of  ages  to  come  ;  that  many  in  our  own  and 
heathen  lands  will  rise  up  and  call  it  blessed. 

May  we  not  hope  from  the  past  history  of  this  Seminary,  that, 
as  it  has  grown  in  favor  with  God  and  man,  so  God  will  bless  it 
more  and  more.  "  May  we  not  trust,"  as  Bishop  Meade  said  in 
1859,  "  that  the  same  unfailing  Providence,  who  l;as  done  so  much 
for  us  in  the  last  forty  years,  will  never  leave  us  or  forsake  us  ? 

"  May  we  not  look  to  Him  who  has  brought  us  thus  far  on  our 
way,  and  say,  the  Lord  will  provide  for  the  future  ?  May  we  not 
hope  and  believe,  that  our  endowment  will  steadily  increase,  till 
it  shall  reach  the  desired  amount  ?  " 

Let  us  watch  day  and  night  over  that  holy  fire  kindled,  from 
Heaven  eighty  years  ago  here,  and  which  has  burned  so  brightly, 
that  it  go  not  out  on  this  altar  of  God.  Never  was  this  Seminary  so 
much  needed  as  now,  as  the  bulwark  of  a  simple,  pure  and  una- 
dulterated Gospel,  against  errors,  which  come  in  like  a  flood. 

Should  the  time  ever  come  when  another  spirit  shall  be  the 
spirit  of  this  Seminary,  when  another  Gospel  shall  be  preached 
here  and  another  theology  taught  here  ;  when,  though  the  sym- 
bols of  the  Divine  presence  are  here,  that  presence  itself  shall  be 
withdrawn — as  when  the  ark  was  in  the  camp  of  Israel,  and  the 
people  shouted,  so  that   the   earth  rang  again,  though  the  Lord 


The  Work  of  Our  Alumni.  319 

was  not  among  them  :  when  the  real  presence  of  Christ  shall  be 
looked  for  in  the  elements  which  represent  His  broken  body  and 
shed  blood,  instead  of  in  the  heart  of  the  receiver  by  faith  :  then 
shall  voices  be  heard,  as  when  Jerusalem  was  destroyed,  saying 
sorrowfully  :  "  I^et  us  depart  hence,"  and  the  fingers  of  a  man's 
hand  shall  come  forth  and  write  upon  this  pulpit,  and  yonder 
lecture-rooms  and  halls  :    The  glory  is  departed  ! 

My  prayers  have  risen  daily  that  God  may  so  bless  this  institu- 
tion in  all  coming  time  that  its  past  prosperity  shall  hardly  be 
remembered  in  comparison  with  the  greater  abundance  of  blessings 
which  He  shall  bestow  upon  it.  May  it  be  a  fountain,  noiseless 
but  ever  flowing,  and  annually  sending  forth  its  streams  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth  !  May  this  Seminary  to  which  I  have  given 
the  flush  of  my  youth,  the  strength  of  my  manhood,  the  labor  of 
my  age,  to  which  my  cares  and  toils  have  been  given,  live  before 
God  and  be  continually  under  His  protection  and  presence  ! 
May  His  eyes  of  favor  and  love  be  open  night  and  day  toward 
this  place,  and  may  His  ears  be  attentive  to  every  prayer  offered 
here  !  May  the  God  of  all  Grace  be  with  us  as  He  has  been  with 
our  fathers 

As  I  think  of  our  Alumni  my  heart  fills  with  precious  memo- 
ries. Twenty- eight  have  been  made  bishops,  three-score  have 
been  missionaries,  the  greater  number  "warm-hearted  and 
devoted  parish  clergy  throughout  the  land,"  as  Dr.  Stone  said, 
and  in  the  language  of  Cecil,  "have  fought  against  Satan  as 
poor  country  parsons  ;"  others  have  risen  to  important  positions 
in  our  large  cities.  With  very  few  exceptions  they  have  fought 
the  good  fight  and  kept  the  faith.  But  the  ranks  of  our  Alumni 
have  been,  like  those  of  a  regiment,  gathered  after  standing  all 
day  under  fire.  As  the  day  wears  on,  the  ranks  grow  thinner, 
and  at  the  evening  roll-call,  to  familiar  names  there  comes  back 
no  answer.  Four  hundred  and  filty-threeare  deceased.  Could  we 
summon  them  from  their  graves,  to  meet  again  with  us,  what  a 
goodly  company  would  they  make  !  Again  should  we  see  their 
well  known  faces,  and  hear  their  familiar  voices,  and  clasn  their 
hands  with  warm  affection.  And  what  could  they  not  tell  us  of 
the  society  and  service  of  Heaven,  of  the  everlasting  rest  and 
blessedness  of  the  saints.  And  how  would  they  exhort  us  to 
finish  our  course  with  joy,  and  say  to  us.  Is  it  not  written, 
"They  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the   brightness  of  the  firma- 


320  The  Class  of  1847. 

ment,  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for- 
ever and  ever." 

I/et  us  not  fail  to  remember  the  dead.  When  we  tread  these 
walks,  when  we  enter  these  halls,  the  hands  of  classmates,  un- 
seen by  others,  grasp  our  hands,  and  voices  long  silent  are  heard 
by  us.  I  need  not  say  that  teachers  remember  students  ;  recall 
with  distinctness  their  familiar  forms  ;  trace  them  in  their  course 
step  by  step  ;  rejoice  in  their  usefulness  and  share  their  success, 
their  honor  and  their  fame.  The  closest  bond  united  us,  for  we 
were  engaged  in  studies  here  which  we  shall  prosecute  forever  in 
eternity.  We  were  occupied  with  those  themes  which  make  man, 
man  ;  heaven,  heaven  ;  and  God,  God  ;  themes  which  angels  de- 
sire to  look  into  ;  truths  the  greatest  which  can  interest  the  mind 
and  heart  of  man,  sweeter  than  honey  and  the  honeycomb. 

In  stirring  up  my  memory  it  has  brought  back  a  flood  of  things, 
little  and  great,  like  a  voice,  as  we  read  in  Alpine  travels,  which, 
vibrating  in  the  ether,  has  disturbed  the  poise  of  an  avalanche, 
which,  falling,  has  snowed  under  the  lower  landscape  ;  so  the 
present  disappears  and  the  past  lives  again.  The  class  of  1847 
comes  before  my  mind.  C.  Winter  Bolton,  whose  mother  was  a 
daughter  of  William  Jay,  of  England,  author  of  Morning  and 
Evening  Exercises,  lately  visited  the  Seminary,  and  is  still  in 
active  ministry.  His  sisters  had  a  celebrated  school  for  girls  at 
Pelham  Priory,  New  York.  One  of  them  visited  us  on  her  way 
from  the  South,  and  died  shortly  after. 

Andrew  Crosswell,  from  Maine,  was  a  remarkably  handsome 
man.  I  had  a  letter  from  a  distinguished  lawyer,  Simon  Greenleaf, 
professor  of  law  at  Cambridge,  asking  me  about  him,  as  he  was 
paying  attention  to  his  daughter.  I  gave  a  good  account  of  him 
and  he  married  the  daughter.     He  died  June,  1879. 

Dr.  J.  Pinckney  Hammond  was  a  tall,  fine-looking  man,  and  a 
believer  in  muscular  Christianity,  for  once  on  his  way  to  Church 
he  saw  a  man  beating  his  wife.  He  got  out  of  his  buggy  and 
thrashed  the  man  and  went  on  to  his  service.  I  preached  for 
him  when  he  was  at  Upper  Marlboro.  Edmund  T.  Perkins  was  a 
strong  preacher  and  devoted,  sympathetic  minister.  William  I. 
Zimmer  spent  his  ministry  mostly  in  the  South,  where  he  achieved 
great  success.  In  the  next  class,  1848,  Dr.  Archibald  Beatty  has 
stood  high  in  his  Diocese  and  has  often  been  a  deputy  to  Gen- 
eral Convention  ;  he  is  deeply  interested  in  the  Seminary,  and 
arranges  the  Alumni  meetings  at  Conventions. 


CI.ASS  OF  1850 — Bishop  Stevens.  321 

In  the  class  of  1849  Theodore  S.  Rumney,  D.  D.,  alone  sur- 
vives and  labors  on  vigorously.  He  wrote  me  in  1897,  "  My 
heart  often  turns  to  the  dear  old  Seminary  Hill,  and  with  such 
pleasant  memories  of  yourself,  and  Drs.  Sparrow  and  May. 
How  many  have  to  thank  you  for  the  laying  of  a  good  foundation 
for  their  ministry.  When  I  was  in  Cople  parish  I  lived  at  Mr. 
Newton's,  and  on  Sunday  afternoons  the  children  came  to  my 
room  to  be  catechised.  Bishop  John  B.  Newton  told  me  that  his 
first  religious  impressions  were  received  in  those  Sunday  instruc- 
tions.    I  have  felt  grateful  for  this  testimony." 

Richard  B.  Duane,  D.  D.,  (1850)  was  a  very  superior  man,  whom 
I  knew  well  and  saw  only  a  fortnight  before  his  death  at  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Evangelical  Education  Society  after  the  war  in 
1866.  It  was  held  in  Philadelphia  and  was  a  love-feast ;  Bishop 
Johns  spoke  and  I  remember  Duane  shed  tears.  His  father,  W.  J. 
Duane,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  refused  to  remove  the  public 
funds  at  President  Jackson's  order,  from  the  United  States  bank 
to  certain  State  banks  ("  Pet  Banks  ").  The  order  caused  great 
agitation  ;  the  Senate  declared  the  act  unconstitutional  and  they 
were  not  removed.  Duane,  however,  was  dismissed  from  oflSce 
by  the  President  and  Roger  B.  Taney  succeeded  him. 

In  the  same  class  was  Samuel  Clements,  D.  D.,  a  lovely  man, 
who  married  the  sister  of  Rev.  W.  C.  Newbold,  and  did  a  most 
successful  work  at  Trenton,  having  great  influence  over  boys  and 
young  people.  Wesley  P.  Gahagan  was  from  the  South  and  knew 
Rev.  W.  Bacon  Stevens  when  professor  at  Athens,  Georgia. 
Bishop  Stevens  seems  near  to  me  as  he  was  born  within  a  few 
miles  and  a  few  years  of  me,  and  went  to  the  same  school,  Phil- 
lips Academy.  About  the  time  I  came  to  Virginia  he  settled  at 
Savannah  as  physician,  where  he  had  a  large  practice  and  stood 
at  the  head  of  his  profession.  He  turned  from  all  this  to  study 
for  the  ministry  and  was  ordained  deacon  in  1843,  became  profes- 
sor at  the  University  of  Georgia  and  in  1848  succeeded  Bishop  T. 
M.  Clark  at  St.  Andrew's,  Philadelphia.  He  was  consecrated 
Assistant  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania  January,  1862,  and  on  Bishop 
Alonzo  Potter's  death,  July  4,  1865,  he  became  Bishop  and  his 
Episcopate  of  twenty-five  years  was  most  successful. 

P.  G.  Robert  (1850)  has  been  for  many  years  a  faithful  minister 
of  Christ  in  St.  Louis.  He  wrote  me  in  1880  :  "In  nearly  thirty 
years  I  have  only  mi.ssed  three  Sundays,  thanks  to  God's  good- 
ness, and  I  have  only  had  ten  months'  vacation.    With  much  love 


322  J.  P.  Ht'bbard — R.  T.  Davis. 

and  pleasant  memories  every  time  I  open  my  Hebrew  Bible,  which 
is  almost  daily,  P.  G.  Robert." 

John  P.  Hubbard,  D.  D.,  was  connected  with  the  Copley  and 
Green  families,  and  other  rich  people  in  Boston.  He  intended 
going  to  China  as  Missionary  but  was  prevented  and  built  a 
schoolhouse  there.  He  was  a  year  in  L,eesburg  and  often  visited 
the  Seminary,  where  he  was  highly  esteemed.  His  son,  a  young 
doctor,  sailed  from  Norfolk  on  a  vessel  that  was  never  heard  of 
again,  to  the  great  sorrow  of  those  who  had  friends  on  board. 

Rev.  Dr.  Richard  T.  Davis,  Trustee  of  the  Seminary,  though 
much  younger  than  myself,  always  had  my  regard  as  a  man  of 
pure  and  noble  character.  Born  in  Albemarle  county  in  1830,  a 
son  of  John  A.  G.  Davis,  the  eminent  Professor  of  L,aw  at  the 
University  of  Virginia,  who  was  shot  by  a  student  in  1839,  his 
mother  being  a  grandniece  of  President  Thomas  Jefferson,  he 
graduated  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  Master  of  Arts,  a  high  distinc- 
tion. Three  or  four  brothers — the  others  being  Eugene,  John 
Staige,  the  gifted  Professor  of  Anatomy  at  the  University,  and 
Dabney  C.  T.,  the  faithful,  devoted  minister — took  the  degree  of 
M.  A.  All  were  devoted  Christians  and  of  high  character  and 
influence.  Eugene  Davis,  the  oldest,  I  saw  often  at  our  Councils, 
and  he  was  a  man  of  great  usefulness  in  the  Church  and  the 
community. 

Richard  T.  Davis  graduated  at  our  Seminary  1855  and  went  to 
Martinsburg,  West  Virginia.  The  Civil  War  found  him  at  Orange 
Court  House,  which  he  left  to  enter  the  Confederate  army  as  chap- 
lain of  the  Sixth  Virginia  cavalry.  He  was  with  his  regiment 
throughout  the  war  and  surrendered  at  Appomatox  with  its  few 
remaining  members.  Old  soldiers  delight  to  tell  of  his  unflinch- 
ing courage,  which  often  carried  him  to  the  very  front  of  the 
skirmish  line,  fearless  of  all  danger,  when  he  could  minister  to 
the  bodies  and  souls  of  wounded  and  dying  comrades.  A  true 
knight,  "  without  fear  and  without  reproach,"  he  gave  his  whole 
life  to  the  uplifting  and  helping  of  his  fellow-men.  A  faithful 
and  sympathetic  pastor,  a  cultured  and  earnest  preacher,  a  true 
and  pure  friend,  all  who  knew  him  blessed  him  and  were  blessed 
by  him.  rlis  death.  May  3,  1892,  brought  grief  to  all  who  knew 
him,  "  sorrowing  most  of  all  that  they  should  see  his  face  no 
more." 

Julius   E.    Grammer,    of  the   same   class,    or   a   classmate    of 
his,    was   born   in   Washington,  October    6,   1831,    entered    the 


Julius  K.  Grammer.  323 

Seminary  in  1852,  and  was  ordained  Deacon  by  Bishop 
Meade  in  1855.  He  exercised  his  ministry  in  Jefferson  county, 
Virginia  ;  in  Trinity  Church,  Washington  ;  in  Smyrna,  Dela- 
ware ;  in  Columbus,  Ohio.  But  his  life  work  was  as  rector 
of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Baltimore,  where  for  twenty-seven  years 
he  labored  most  successfully,  erecting  the  beautiful  St.  Peter's 
Church,  and  establishing  the  Henshaw  Memorial  Chapel.  For 
nearly  forty  years  he  occupied  a  commanding  position,  and 
his  usefulness  and  influence  were  great  in  Baltimore  and  the 
Diocese.  Loving  his  own  Church  devotedly,  his  sympathies  were 
wide  and  embraced  other  Christian  bodies,  and  all  social,  philan- 
thropic and  educational  enterprises  evoked  his  interest  and  efforts. 
Widely  read  and  of  retentive  memory,  he  drew  upon  a  vast  treas- 
ury of  quotations,  incident  and  fact  in  his  conversation,  sermons 
and  addresses,  and  he  was  ever  ready  when  called  upon  to  make 
an  appropriate  and  interesting  speech. 

In  theology  he  was  an  Evangelical,  and  was  never  afraid  to 
stand  for  the  truth,  and  every  Diocesan  Convention  found  him  a 
faithful  and  watchful  member.  His  disposition  was  genial,  and 
his  words,  however  forcible  and  warm,  were  ever  kindly,  never  los- 
ing his  temper  in  debate,  nor  speaking  harshly,  nor  sulking  when 
things  did  not  suit  his  views  ;  he  never  made  enemies  or  hurt  the 
feelings  of  others.  His  unique  personality,  his  gifts  as  speaker, 
his  fund  of  anecdote,  his  fidelity  to  the  truth — these  varied  gifts 
made  him  dear  to  many  people. 

His  love  for  the  Seminary  was  fervent,  and  he  delighted  to  do 
her  honor,  and  her  watchwords  of  loyalty  to  Christ  were  dear  to 
his  heart. 

He  married  Elizabeth,  a  talented  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Sparrow, 
and  his  son  Rev.  Dr.  Carl  E.  Grammer  was  for  eleven  years  the 
gifted,  beloved  and  honored  Professor  of  Church  History  in  this 
Seminary,  and  was  very  tender  and  considerate  in  his  attentions 
to  me,  as  a  son  to  a  father. 

[March  20,  1902,  Dr.  Julius  E-  Grammer  entered  into  rest,  six 
weeks  before  my  father,  who  never  knew  of  his  death. — Editor.] 

Jtdy  13,  1886. 
My  Dear  Friend,  Dr.  Packard  : 

I  am  so  glad  that  the  exercises  at  the  Seminary  in  honor  of  your 
fiftieth  anniversary  were  happily  consummated  by  such  marks  of 
the  grateful  remembrance  of  you  as  their  Professor  by  so  many  of 
the  Alumni  from  far  and  near.     It  gave  some  indication  of  the 


324  Class  of  1856 — Bishop  Wingfiei.d. 

strong  and  deep  feeling  that  flows  through  the  hearts  of  your  old 
students. 

Your  reminiscences  of  the  day  when  woodpiles  were  in  common 
were  full  of  pleasing  humor. 

I  congratulate  you,  dear  Doctor,  that  you  have  been  spared  to 
see  the  war  ended,  the  Seminary  re-endowed  and  resuscitated,  the 
laurel  bound  upon  your  brow — the  well- won  "palm"  after  the 
"  dusty  "  course,  and  your  chair  surrounded  by  a  group  of  pro- 
fessors whose  shoulders  will  ease  the  burden  of  your  office. 

Julius  E.  Grammer. 

In  the  class  of  1856  were  many  excellent  men,  who  have  been 
in  part  named,  among  them  I^ucius  W.  Bancroft,  D.  D.,  whose 
splendid  promise  was  redeemed  by  his  ministry  and  power  as  a 
preacher.  He  never  married.  One  of  his  classmates,  who  was 
chaplain  here  during  the  war,  visited  me  in  May,  1897,  and  to 
my  question,  "Are you  married?  "  he  said,  "  No,  Doctor,  I  have 
not  had  time  to  make   the   acquaintance  of  any  young  lady." 

John  H.  D,  Wingfield,  D.  D.,  was  in  Portsmouth  during  the 
war.  He  had  a  ball  tied  to  his  ankle  and  was  made  to  sweep  the 
streets  there  because  he  had  expressed  sympathy  with  the  Con- 
federacy ;  "  aiding  and  abetting  the  rebellion,"  it  was  called.  He 
was  made  Bishop  of  Northern  California,  and  was  an  able 
preacher  and  pastor. 

At  the  commencement  of  1856  the  chants  in  the  Chapel  were 
given  by  the  students  in  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Latin,  the  three 
sacred  languages,  and  it  was  thought  that  they  sounded  beauti- 
fully. The  five  classes,  1855  to  1859,  had  each  a  Bishop  to  give 
it  eminence,  but  I  think  1858  had  more  brilliant  preachers  than 
any  other  that  I  recall.  Among  them  it  is  enough  to  name  John 
Cosby,  J.  McA.  Harding,  R,  J.  Keeling,  Bishop  A.  M.  Randolph, 
C.  A.  Iv.  Richards,  W.  W.  Williams,  Henry  A.  Wise,  and  John 
H.  Elliott.  Dr.  Keeling  was  at  Trinity  Church,  Washington,  in 
1865,  and  built  it  up  again.  A  Virginian,  sympathizing  with 
"his  own  people  "  in  their  sorrow,  he  was  able  so  to  "  keep  the 
door  of  his  lips  "  that  he  gave  no  offense,  even  to  the  leaders  in 
Congress  in  his  congregation.  Secretary  Chase  once  said  to  him, 
"  Well,  Mr.  Keeling,  how  are  the  secessionists  getting  on  at 
Trinity?"  "  We  have  no  secessionists  at  Trinity,  Mr.  Chase." 
"  But  are  you  not  Southern  ?  "  asked  he.  "  Yes,  Mr.  Secretary, 
I  am.  I  do  not  wish  to  see  two  Governments,  but  my  heart  is  in 
sympathy  with  my  afflicted  people."  After  that  Mr.  Chase 
was    most    considerate     and    kind.      Dr.     Keeling    was    much 


Bishop  Dudley — Dr.  Forrest.  325 

admired  as  a  preacher,  aud  has  done  most  useful  work.  I 
cannot  speak  longer  of  the  alumni,  though  many  of  the  grad- 
uates since  the  war  are  dear  to  my  heart  and  are  never  forgotten 
in  my  prayers.  Bishop  Thomas  U.  Dudley  has  ever  been  very 
dear  to  me,  and  his  ever  watchful  attention  and  kindness,  taking 
part  in  everything  that  was  for  my  advantage,  are  most  gratefully 
recorded.  His  scholarship  and  wit,  his  beautiful  voice,  his  wide 
sympathies  have  made  him  a  power  for  good.  I  replied  to  a  letter 
written  to  me  about  him  when  he  graduated,  that  he  was  "  a  very 
promising  young  man."  I  need  not  say  how  fully  that  promise 
has  been  redeemed.  The  Seminary  felt  justly  proud  of  her  sons, 
when  he  was  made  in  1901  Chairman  of  the  House  of  Bishops  and 
her  other  alumni  were  so  influential  in  the  House  of  Bishops  and 
of  Deputies.  Bishop  Dudley's  address  in  1893  at  the  Parliament 
of  Religions  on  "The  Historic  Christ"  attracted  world-wide 
attention.     He  made  the  most  of  a  great  opportunity. 

The  Seminary  reopened  in  the  fall  of  1865  with  Dr.  Sparrow  and 
myself  as  professors,  with  a  few  students  who  messed  together 
until  my  sister-in-law.  Miss  Cornelia  Jones,  became  matron.  They 
had  to  wear  their  old  Confederate  uniforms  at  first,  and  they  were 
in  spirit  and  aim  as  true  soldiers  of  the  Cross  as  ever  lived. 
Among  them  was  my  son-in-law,  W.  H.  Laird,  born  in  Dorches- 
ter county,  Maryland,  in  1841,  nearly  related  to  the  Golds- 
borough,  Winder  and  Henry  families,  and  educated  at  St  James' 
College.  He  served  with  great  bravery  through  the  entire  war, 
being  one  of  the  few  survivors  of  his  company  at  Gettysburg.  He 
had  a  wonderful  escape  in  one  battle  due  to  a  comrade  having  his 
gun  before  his  face,  so  that  a  ball  struck  it  instead  of  piercing  his 
brain.  He  was  a  man  of  unusual  ability  as  a  thinker  and  writer, 
of  untiring  faithfulness  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  of  entire  conse- 
cration of  all  his  powers  to  the  ministry.  Modest,  sincere,  true, 
and  unworldly,  the  world  is  poorer  for  his  loss.  His  wife,  my 
daughter  Rosa,  died  suddenly  August  28,  1892,  and  he,  as  sud- 
denly, December  10,  1896. 

[At  this  point  I  would  like  to  add  something  about  Rev.  Dr. 
Douglas  F.  Forrest.  As  a  boy  he  lived  near  the  Seminary,  and 
died  and  was  buried  the  same  day  as  my  father,  who  knew  and 
loved  him  well. — Editor.] 

Douglas  French,  son  of  Commodore  Forrest,  afterwards  Admiral 
in  the  Confederate  navy,  graduated  at  Yale,  in  the  class  of  1857, 
as  one  of  the  most  popular  and  honored  niembers.     He  begau  Jjjs 


326  Doctors  Walker  and  Nelson, 

avowedly  Christian  life  at  college,  and  maintained  it  with  rare 
consistency  in  all  his  relations.  He  entered  the  Confederate 
army  as  an  officer  and  served  with  courage  and  devotion.  He 
was  transferred  to  the  navy  and  was  an  officer  of  the  iron-clad 
FzV^zwza— previously  the  Merrimac— in  its  fight  with  the  Fed- 
eral fleet  in  Hampton  Roads,  1863,  and  remained  in  the  navy 
till  the  war  ended.  After  the  war  he  practiced  law  in  Baltimore 
and  became  interested  in  religious  work  as  a  layman.  He  soon 
determined  to  study  for  the  ministry,  was  ordained  in  1873  and 
served  the  Church  from  Maryland  to  California  and  Florida. 
Everywhere  his  lovely  spirit,  his  culture  and  his  talents  caused 
him  to  be  most  beloved.  While  talking  to  his  wife  and  others, 
sitting  in  his  chair  he  threw  his  head  back  and  laughed  at 
some  pleasantry,  and  died  immediately,  on  May  3,  1902,  at  Ash- 
land, Virginia.  He  was  a  man  among  men,  faithful  and  true, 
courteous,  gentle  and  manly,  beautiful  in  face  and  in  character. 

In  1866,  the  Rev.  Cornelias  Walker,  D.  D.,  was  made  professor 
and  so  continued  for  about  thirty  years,  living  now  in  Washington. 
He  was  a  most  successful  pastor,  a  faithful  professor,  and  a  wise 
counsellor  of  the  students,  who  were  warmly  attached  to  him. 

For  two  years,  1874-1876,  Drs.  Walker,  McElhinney  and  my- 
self were  in  charge  of  the  Seminary,  and  in  1876  Rev.  Kinloch 
Nelson  was  elected  to  the  chair  of  Church  History,  taking 
charge  in  the  fall  of  1876.  For  eighteen  years  he  was  most  earn- 
est and  devoted  in  his  work  for  the  students  and  for  his  beloved 
Diocese,  and  in  the  Diocesan  Councils  he  had  great  influence. 
He  was  sent  to  the  General  Convention  three  times,  1886  to  1892, 
and  had  done  excellent  work  there  by  his  strong  sense,  his  fair- 
ness and  godly  sincerity.  His  strong  personality,  his  solid,  true 
character,  and  his  piety,  made  him  a  most  helpful  friend  to  the 
students,  who  loved  him.  Born  November  2,  1839,  he  was  edu- 
cated at  the  Episcopal  High  School  and  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, served  through  the  entire  Civil  War  with  bravery  and 
devotion,  graduated  at  this  Seminary  in  1868,  married  that  sum- 
mer Miss  Grace  Fenton  McGuire,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  P. 
McGuire,  served  in  Leeds  parish,  Fauquier  county,  and  in 
Richmond,  until  called  to  professorship  here,  where  he  fell  asleep 
in  Christ  October  25,  1894,  honored  and  lamented  by  all.  His 
memory  is  still  fresh  in  our  hearts. 

I  give   here  a  letter  written  by  him  to  me  shortly  before  his 
death. 


New  Professors.  327 

Sept.  yih,  18^4.. 
My  Dear  Dr.  Packard  : 

I  was  very  glad  to  receive  your  kind  letter  and  to  hear  that  you 
felt  equal  to  undertaking  so  much  work.  It  will  seem  like  old 
times  again  for  you  to  have  the  Hebrew  classes.  I  heard  from 
Grammer  a  few  days  ago,  that  he  was  still  improving  and  I  do 
hope  he  will  be  with  us  again  by  Nov.  ist.  I  have  had  a  very 
quiet,  but  improving  time,  riding  out  on  horseback  or  in  a  vehicle 
nearly  every  day,  growing  stronger  all  the  time.  I  hope  that  by 
the  blessing  of  Providence,  I  shall  soon  be  as  well  as  ever.  I 
received  a  very  pleasant  letter  from  Dr.  Crawford  not  long  ago. 
He  seemed  to  be  having  a  delightful  time.  I  cannot  help  hoping 
that  we  may  have  nearly  40  students  this  approaching  session, 
about  32  old  and  some  8  or  10  new  ones.  It  has  been  very  grate- 
ful to  me  to  find  that  during  mj'  illness  my  friends  have  taken  so 
much  interest  in  my  recovery.  I  look  forward  with  great  pleasure 
to  meeting  you  and  my  other  friends  on  The  Hill  about  Sept.  24th. 

Meantime  and  always  I  am 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

KiNi^ocH  Nelson. 

In  1887,  Rev.  Carl  Grammer  and  Rev.  Angus  Crawford,  M.  A., 
were  elected  professors  ;  in  1895,  Rev.  Samuel  A.  Wallis  ;  in  1897^ 
Rev.  R.  W.  Micou,  M.  A.,  D.  D.;  in  1897  Rev.  Robert  K.  Massie  ; 
Rev.  Dr.  W.  H.  Neilson  and  Rev.  A.  M.  Hilliker,  for  two  years 
each,  gave  instruction  in  the  English  Bible.  In  1901,  Rev. 
Berryman  Green  was  made  Instructor  in  the  English  Bible  [Pro- 
fessor in  1902. — Editor].  The  Rev.  Dr.  Crawford  soon  after  com- 
ing here  raised  about  $20,000,  which  was  most  wisely  expended 
under  his  personal  supervision  in  making  the  great  improvements 
in  our  groun;ls  and  buildings.  He  had  the  roads  laid  off  and 
graded,  the  trees  planted,  the  water  works  built,  and  St.  George's 
Hall  enlarged.  These  changes,  added  to  the  natural  beauty  of 
the  Seminary,  make  it  all  that  can  be  desired  for  its  work. 

About  1897  Mr,  Joseph  Wilmer  accepted  the  position  of  Superin- 
tendent of  Grounds  and  Buildi  gs,  exercising  a  splendid  influence 
on  all  who  knew  him.  After  his  resignation  in  1901  Mr.  George 
Calvert  Stuart,  grandson  of  my  old  friend,  Dr.  Richard  Stuart, 
has  most  faithfully  and  successfully  filled  this  important  position. 

Through  the  efforts  of  my  friend.  Rev.  Roberts.  Carter  (1891), 
assisted  by  the  I^adies'  Aid  and  Missionary  Societies,  Whittle 
Hall  was  erected  in  1889  as  a  "  parish  house  "  for  the  parochial 
work  of  the  neighborhood,  where  also  the  Reinicker  and  other 
lectures  are  delivered. 


328  The  Mission  Station. 

The  work  done  at  the  mission  stations  has  been  alluded  to,  but 
deserves  fuller  mention.  Fairfax  county,  once  fertile,  but 
exhausted  by  unscientific  culture  has  many  poor  and  improvi- 
dent people.  The  students  have  established  among  them  chapels, 
where  they  gather  the  children  for  instruction,  and,  after  a  service, 
expound  the  Scriptures  to  a  large  congregation,  going  forth  to 
this  work  two  by  two  on  Sunday  afternoons,  regardless  of  wintry 
storm  or  burning  sun.  The  distance  is  from  two  to  ten  miles  in 
every  direction,  including  the  railroad  men  in  Alexandria,  the 
almshouse  and  the  jail,  and  by  the  labor  of  the  students  many  have 
been  converted,  comforted,  counselled  and  cheered.  I  have  known 
one  student  ride  twelve  miles  and  back  every  Sunday  to  Pohick 
Church  ;  another  eighteen  miles  to  Occoquan,  then  proverbial  for 
the  romantic  beauty  of  its  situation  and  the  intemperance  and  vice 
of  its  people. 

I  have  known  two  students  walk  five  miles  after  dinner  and 
back  to  tea,  often  in  a  drizzling  rain  or  drifting  snow,  or  sinking 
at  every  step  in  the  soft  clay,  to  meet  a  few  families  for  prayer  and 
exhortation. 

One  of  our  recent  graduates.  Rev.  F.  E.  McManus,  walked 
once  to  Arlington,  about  four  miles  distant,  carrying  a  hod  of  coal 
for  the  Mission  Chapel.  John  Matthews,  the  Bible  Reader  and 
Evangelist,  once  walked  into  Alexandria,  three  miles,  carrying  in 
his  arms  a  baby  organ  that  they  might  have  music  at  the 
mission, 

I  will  mention  some  anecdotes  of  alumni.  An  alumnus  of  1880, 
when  a  couple  stood  before  him  to  be  married,  began  with  the 
Service  for  Infant  Baptism.  A  minister  named  Nash  had  for  his 
first  baptism  a  boy  ten  years  old.  He  took  him  up  in  his  arms 
and  carried  him  to  the  font,  which  he  found  had  no  water  in  it. 

This  story  is  not  apropos  but  is  worth  telling  :  A  Rev.  Mr. 
Philips,  of  Lunenburg  county,  was  thought  unsound  on  the  doc- 
trine of  original  sin.  Dr.  William  Wilmer  examined  him  about 
it  and  asked  how  he  explained  what  David  said,  "  I  was  con- 
ceived in  sin,"  etc.     "  Oh,"  said  he,  "  David  is  not  everybody." 

One  of  our  graduates  when  about  to  baptize  a  baby,  in  his  nerv- 
ousness dropped  it  into  the  font.  One  of  our  alumni,  an  author 
of  books,  went  to  Dr.  Tyng  for  comfort  because  all  his  class- 
mates had  risen  faster  than  he.  Dr.  Tyng  said,  "  I  am  surprised 
Mr. that  you  have  such  a  good  place  as  you  have,"     It 


Anecdotes. 


329 


may  have  comforted  him.     Calls  to  churches  are  like  the  Pool  of 
Bethesda  where  some  one  steps  in  before. 

Rev.  J.  J.  Page  used  to  tell  me  of  a  preacher  who  had  a  great 
deal  of  thunder  and  very  little  lightning  in  his  sermons.  This  re- 
minds me  of  a  Scotch  minister  who  asked  a  man  about  his  pastor. 
"  Is  he  soond  ?"  "  Oh,  yes,"  was  the  reply.  "  Well  how  about 
Mr.  "  (himself).  The  canny  Scot,  who  knew  his  ques- 
tioner, said,   "  Oh,  he  is  all  soond." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
THE  REVISION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

ONE  of  the  pleasantest  episodes  in  my  life  was  my  part  in  the 
work  of  the  Revision  of  the  Bible  from  1872  to  1884. 

The  revision  of  the  English  version  of  161 1  had  long  been  a 
matter  of  discussion  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  Sev- 
eral attempts  had  been  made  to  translate  more  accurately  different 
parts  of  the  Bible.  In  February,  1870,  the  Convocation  of  Canter- 
bury, representing  the  largest  part  of  the  Church  of  England, 
proposed,  and  in  May,  1870,  decided  to  undertake,  a  revision  of  the 
version  of  161 1,  Bishops  Wilberforce  and  EHicott  being  the  moving 
spirits.  In  1871  Bishop  Wilberforce  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Senior  Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  ask- 
ing the  American  Bishops  to  take  part  in  the  revision.  At  the 
General  Convention  in  Baltimore,  October,  187 1,  the  House  of 
Bishops  passed  the  resolution  offered  by  Bishop  Horatio  Potter, 
declining  to  take  part  in  the  work.  Dr.  Angus,  of  London,  had 
come  over  in  1871  and  selected  Rev.  Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  a  man  of 
great  learning  and  influence,  to  organize  an  American  committee. 
He  went  to  work  and  thirty  men  were  chosen.  Several  Bishops 
were  invited  to  take  part,  but  Bishop  Lee  alone  accepted  and 
proved  one  of  the  most  faithful  and  valuable  members.  The 
only  other  Episcopalian  besides  myself  and  Bishop  Lee  was  Pro- 
fessor George  E.  Hare,  of  Philadelphia,  father  of  our  beloved 
Bishop  Hare,  and  he  did  splendid  service,  his  suggestions  being 
always  important  and  valuable.  The  British  Committee,  like 
ours,  had  ten  meetings  a  year,  amounting  to  four  hundred  and 
seven  days  in  the  one  hundred  and  three  sessions,  and  numbered 
fifty-two  members,  thirty-six  being  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Their  meetings  were  most  harmonious,  and  the  chairman  (Bishop 
Ellicott),  was  the  most  faithful  attendant,  being  absent  only  two 
days,  a  rare  instance  of  conscientious  devotion  to  a  long  and 
laborious  work. 

The  place  of  meeting  in  England  was  the  historic  Jerusalem 
Chamber,  Westminster  Abbey,  where  King  Henry  IV  died,  and 
where  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines  met.  The  American 
revisers  met  in  the  Bible  House,  New  York  City.  I  con- 
sider it  a   great  privilege  that  I   became   intimately  acquainted 

330 


American  Revisers.  33  i 

with  men  of  other  churches  so  eminent  for  piety  and  learn- 
ing, and  whom  once  knowing  I  can  never  forget.  We  were 
like  brothers,  all  engaged  in  the  same  holy  work  of  en- 
deavoring to  make  clear  God's  Word  to  our  fellowmen,  and 
we  realized  as  never  before  the  power  and  beauty  of  that  revela- 
tion, its  divine  origin  and  absolute  authority.  As  Dr.  Day 
wrote  me  in  1884,  "  As  one  after  another  of  our  number  is  called 
away  do  we  not  feel  more  and  more  how  precious  has  been  our 
association  and  the  work  in  which  we  have  been  engaged."  The 
death  of  any  of  these  Christian  friends  caused  a  sense  of  personal 
loss  to  me. 

There  was  the  scholarly  Dr.  William  H.  Green,  of  Princeton 
Seminary,  Pre.-ident  of  our  Old  Testament  Company,  rather 
reserved  in  manner,  always  accurate  in  points  of  grammar  and 
judicious  in  interpretation  ;  well  known  as  the  strongest  opponent 
of  the  rationalistic  criticism  of  the  Bible  and  the  author  of  the 
best  books  on  these  subjects. 

Dr.  George  E.  Day  of  the  Divinity  School  of  Yale  University,  a 
ripe  scholar  and  fluent  speaker,  was  our  Secretary  and  was  dear 
to  all  of  us. 

My  most  intimate  friend  was  Dr.  Howard  Osgood,  of  the  Baptist 
Theological  Seminary,  Rochester,  New  York,  at  whose  elegant 
and  hospitable  home  our  company  met  two  summers  for  several 
days.  I  can  never  forget  his  interesting  family,  and  he  is  one  of 
our  eminent  Biblical  scholars,  familiar  with  the  latest  German 
literature. 

I  had  a  high  regard  for  Dr.  Talbot  W.  Chambers,  who  died  a 
few  years  ago,  the  only  one  of  our  number  who  was  not  a  profes- 
sor. I  was  often  surprised  at  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  his 
knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  language  and  he  was  in  no  way  inferior 
to  the  others. 

I  can  only  mention  Dr.  Aiken,  of  Princeton  Seminary  ;  Dr. 
Conant,  who  had  already  published  a  revised  English  version  of 
the  Old  Testament  for  the  American  Bible  Union  ;  Dr.  DeWitt, 
of  the  New  Brunswick  Theological  Seminary  ;  and  Dr.  C.  M, 
Mead,  of  Andover,  successor  of  Professor  Moses  Stuart,  and  a 
student  at  Halle  and  Berlin,  whose  work  on  "  Supernatural 
Religion  "  is  well  known.  Dr.  Strong,  editor  of  the  great  Theolo- 
gical Encyclopedia  was  a  good  worker;  and  Dr.  Krauth  occasionally 
attended  our  meetings.  During  the  summer  we  met  outside  of 
New  York,  at  Lake  Mohonk,  New  Haven,  Andover,  Philadel- 
phia and  elsewhere. 


332  My  Work  on  thk  Revision. 

Our  company  was  invited  to  meet  the  clergy  and  other  guests 
at  Alexander  Brown's  in  Philadelphia  ;  at  the  palatial  home  of 
Mr.  Shepard,  son-in-law  of  W.  H.  Vanderbilt,  in  New  York, 
where  four  hundred  guests  were  invited  to  meet  us  ;  at  Mr. 
Morris  K.  Jesup's  and  at  other  houses.  We  were  in  the  habit  of 
lunching  together  and  sometimes  guests  were  invited  to  meet  us, 
and  thus  1  met  Dr.  Charles  Briggs,  Dean  Stanley,  Professor 
Leathes,  and  Dr.  Angus,  of  Ivondon,  whom  I  visited  when  I  went 
to  Kngland.  While  engaged  in  the  revision  Dr.  Schafif  asked  me 
to  assist  in  the  great  work  of  I^ange's  Commentary,  by  preparing 
a  commentary  on  Malachi,  as  the  German  commentator  on  that 
book  expressed  rationalistic  views,  and  I  did  this.  The  British 
committee  transmitted  to  the  American  Company  from  time  to 
time  each  portion  of  their  first  revision  and  received  in  return 
our  criticisms  and  suggestions.  These  were  considered  with  much 
care  and  attention  in  the  second  revision  which  was  sent  over  to 
us  again  and  received  further  suggestions  which  were  closely  and 
carefully  considered.  I^ast  of  all  they  forwarded  to  us  the  Revised 
Version  in  its  final  form  ;  and  those  renderings  which  we  pre- 
ferred were  placed  in  an  appendix  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 

When  I  went  to  England  in  1873  I  was  the  bearer  of  a  portion 
of  the  American  Revision  to  Canon  Troutbeck,  the  Secretary  of  the 
British  Committee,  who  told  me  that  they  had  adopted  about  one- 
half  of  our  suggestions.  An  interesting  fact  is  this  :  The  British 
Committee  usually  sent  us  their  work  in  advance  as  a  basis  for 
ours  ;  they  failed  to  do  this  in  the  case  of  the  book  of  Job,  so  that 
we  made  an  independent  revision  of  that,  but  when  the  two  separ- 
ate revisions  were  compared  more  than  one-half  the  changes  were 
identical.  Occasionally  members  of  the  British  and  American 
committees  exchanged  visits.  I  was  present  at  a  meeting  in  the 
Jerusalem  Chamber,  Bishop  Harold  Browne  presiding.  Each 
member  had  to  study  and  prepare  revision  for  each  portion  that 
was  considered  at  the  monthly  meetings.  I  did  not  attend  all  the 
meetings  as  the  trustees  thought  I  could  not  spare  from  my  classes 
the  three  days  a  month  required  in  the  meeting,  but  they  after- 
wards allowed  me  to  attend.  The  discussions  were  earnest  and 
animated  and  there  was  a  free  expression  of  opinions.  Yet  never 
even  once  did  the  odium  iheolo^icum  appear,  and  nothing  was  said 
at  any  time  that  required  retraction  or  apology,  and  courtesy, 
kindness,  and  the  heartiest  Christian  fellowship  prevailed  from 
beginning  to  end.     This  is  as  it  should  be  among  those  who  love 


The  Revised  Version.  333 

the  lyord  Jesus  in  sincerity,  however  various  their  views  on  other 
points. 

It  is  said  that  Queen  Victoria  once  asked  a  bishop  who  had 
been  lately  appointed  to  a  see  in  Scotland,  how  he  got  along 
with  the  Presbyterians.  He  replied,  "  Very  well,  indeed." 
She  said,  "  You  know  we  will  have  to  get  along  with  them  in 
heaven." 

Mr.  Havemeyer,  the  millionaire,  was  invited  by  Dr.  Schaff  to 
speak  to  us  while  we  were  in  the  committee  rooms.  He  spoke 
pleasantlv,  saying,  among  other  things,  that  he  had  seen  men 
gathered  together  for  many  purposes,  for  making  money,  for 
planning  public  improvements,  as  a  council  of  war,  but  never  be- 
fore for  the  study  of  the  Bible. 

The  Revised  Version  has  not  met  with  the  success  that  was  ex- 
pected. Several  reasons  might  be  assigned.  Very  few  are  ac- 
quainted with  the  original  language  of  the  Bible  and  are  at  a  loss 
to  understand  why  changes,  often  apparently  small,  should  be 
made  from  the  Common  Version.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that 
a  version  in  use  for  270  years,  entwined  with  many  associations 
and  with  a  wonderful  beauty  and  rhythm  of  style  could  be  re- 
placed at  once.  It  may  require  two  or  more  generations,  espe- 
cially as  the  great  Bible  Societies  in  England  and  America  cannot 
publish  any  but  the  authorized  version.  Scholars,  teachers  and 
and  ministers  use  it  and  it  will  gradually  win  acceptance. 

Many  persons  prefer  the  old  though  imperfect  to  the  revised 
form  ;  they  want  no  change  even  though  for  the  better.  They 
remind  us  of  the  old  priest  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII,  who  in 
reading  his  offices  said,  niumpsimus.  When  informed  that  there 
was  no  such  word,  and  he  ought  to  say,  sumpsimus ,  replied,  "  I 
have  been  saying  ^numPsimus  for  thirty  vears  and  do  you  sup- 
pose that  I  will  change  it  for  your  new-fangled  su7npsimus  ?  " 

The  King  James  version  was  slow  in  supplanting  the  earlier 
versions  though  it  had  strong  forces  aiding  its  acceptance.  Its 
English  is  that  of  Shakspere,  who  died  five  years  after  its  ap- 
pearance, and  the  English  language  was  then  most  flexible  and 
beautiful.  The  Mayflower,  which  brought  the  Puritans  to  this 
country,  brought  some  copies  of  that  version,  and  copies  of  that 
first  edition  may  still  be  found  as  an  heirloom  in  old  families. 
The  Seminary  L,ibrary  has  one  copy. 

The  origin  of  the  King  James  version  is  interesting.  The 
Geneva  Bible  was  used  by  the  Puritans  and  the  Bishop's  Bible 
by  the  Church  of  England,  and  the  Puritans  complained  that 


334  'I^HE  King  Jamks  Version. 

some  passages  were  mistranslated,  even  flat  contradictions  in  some 
places  between  the  two  versions.  For  instance  Psalm  cv,  28,  in 
one  reads,  "  They  rebelled  not  against  his  word;"  in  the  other 
version,  "  They  were  not  obedient  to  his  word."  This  contradic- 
tion still  exists  between  the  King  James  and  the  Prayer  Book 
Psalms.  King  James  summoned  both  sides  to  a  conference  at 
Hampton  Court,  but  treated  the  Puritans  with  scant  courtesy. 
One  of  his  sayings  was,  "Presbytery  agreeth  as  well  with 
monarchy  as  God  and  the  devil."  King  James  has  been  called 
"  the  wisest  fool  in  Christendom."  He  appointed  forty-seven 
translators  and  they  were  two  years  and  three-quarters  doing  the 
work.  There  were  some  defects  in  their  way  of  working,  for 
they  were  divided  into  six  companies,  two  meeting  at  Westmin- 
ster, two  at  Oxford  and  two  at  Cambridge.  They  ought  to  have 
sat  together  and  compared  their  work  as  did  our  revisers,  and 
thus  have  unified  their  translation.  Their  rule  was  to  translate  a 
word  in  the  original  in  as  many  different  ways  as  possible  ;  the 
reason  being  "lest  we  might  be  charged  with  some  unequal  deal- 
ing towards  a  great  number  of  good  English  words."  Hence 
they  translated  one  word,  for  instance  in  twenty-five  different 
ways,  another  in  seventeen  ways.  The  aim  of  the  Revised  Version 
is  as  far  as  possible  to  translate  the  same  word  in  the  same  way. 
It  is  surprising,  however,  with  the  fewness  of  their  aids  in 
dictionaries,  grammars  and  commentaries  that  they  have  given  us 
such  a  wonderful  translation,  with  n  >  serious  errors,  and  with 
such  a  charm  that  even  perverts  to  Rome  have  been  reluctant  to 
give  up  their  English  Bibles.  As  Dr.  F.  W.  Faber  says,  "The 
uncommon  beauty  and  marvelous  English  of  the  Protestant  Bible 
is  one  of  the  great  strongholds  of  heresy  in  this  country.  It  lives 
on  the  ear,  like  music  that  can  never  be  forgotten,  like  the  sound 
of  Church  bells  which  the  convert  hardly  knows  how  he  can 
forego.  It  is  part  of  the  national  mind,  and  the  anchor  of  national 
seriousness.  The  memory  of  the  dead  passes  into  it.  The  potent 
traditions  of  the  Bible  are  stereotyped  in  its  verses.  It  is  the 
representative  of  all  his  best  moments,  and  all  that  there  has  been 
about  him  of  soft  and  gentle,  and  pure  and  penitent  and  good, 
speaks  to  him  forever  out  of  his  Protestant  Bible.  It  is  his  sacred 
thing  which  doubt  has  never  dimmed  and  controversy  never 
soiled." 

An  old  lady  asked  how  she  liked  our  Revised  Bible  replied, 
"  If  St  James  version  was  good  enough  for  St.  Paul,  it  is  good 
enough  for  me." 


The  Marginai.  Readings.  335 

Whatever  may  be  the  fate  of  the  Revised  Version  each  one  of 
those  who  labored  on  it  in  this  country  feels  humble  gratitude  to 
God  for  the  blessed  communion  of  devout  scholars  into  which  it 
introduced  him  and  the  many  happy  days  that  were  spent  in  accom- 
plishing it.  Each  of  them  can  adopt  for  himself  the  words  in 
which  the  good  Bishop  Home,  a  century  ago,  spoke  of  his  labors 
upon  the  Psalms:  "Happier  hours  than  those  which  have  been 
spent  in  these  meditations  he  never  expects  to  see  in  this  world. 
Very  pleasantly  did  they  pass  and  moved  smoothly  and  swiftly 
along  ;  for  when  thus  engaged  he  counted  no  time.  They  are 
gone,  but  have  left  a  relish  and  a  fragrance  upon  the  mind,  and 
the  remembrance  of  them  is  sweet." 

I  was  much  gratified  that  my  son  Thomas  was  appointed  by  the 
General  Convention  on  the  Commission  to  suggest  Marginal  Read- 
ing from  the  Revi-ed  Version.  It  may  be  that  this  plan  of  adopting 
only  the  changes  necessary  to  a  faithful  rendering  of  the  original 
and  placing  them  in  the  margin  without  disturbing  the  integrity 
of  the  King  James  Version  may  succeed  where  the  Revised  Ver- 
sion has  failed. 

In  one  of  my  trips  to  New  York,  when  crossing  Broadway,  a 
carriage  suddenly  turned  the  corner  behind  me,  and  I  was  knocked 
down  almost  under  the  horses  ;  but  an  invisible  force  seemed  to 
push  me  far  enough  not  be  run  over,  and  though  dazed  I  was  un- 
injured. I  had  a  strong  feeling  that  an  angel  had  snatched  me 
from  death.  Dr.  Mcllvaine  told  of  one  occasion  when  he  was 
going  to  his  room  to  pray  earnestly  for  the  Church,  and  something 
seemed  to  get  in  his  way  to  prevent  his  going  up  stairs,  and  he 
thought  it  was  Satan,  Why  not?  St.  Paul  said,  "Satan  hin- 
dered me." 

In  1874,  many  of  my  friends,  chief  among  whom  were  Dr.  Dyer, 
Bishop  Dudley,  and  Dr.  Minnigerode,  raised  about  $1,000  and  gave 
It  to  me  for  a  trip  to  Europe.  It  had  been  the  desire  and  dream 
of  my  life  to  see  England,  Switzerland,  and  Rome.  Howard  Pot- 
ter, Bishop  Potter's  brother,  most  kindly  secured  my  passage. 
I  left  June  13th,  and  was  gone  about  three  months,  in  which 
short  time  I  was  able  to  see  a  great  deal.  I  had  some  very  nice 
letters  to  Dean  Stanley  and  others.  I  heard  the  famous  preachers 
of  that  time — Vaughan,  Stanley,  lyiddon,  Farrar,  Spurgeon,  and 
others.  I  saw  the  deeply  interesting  historic  spots  of  England. 
Spurgeon' s  voice  and  enunciation  were  very  clear  and  impressive — 
quite  fearful  at  times.  The  .singing  was  grand,  and  the  audience  of 
6,000  a  great  sight.     Liddon  and  Vaughan  impres'^td  me  greatly. 


336  My  Visit  to  Europe. 

The  i6th  of  July,  1874,  was  a  memorable  day.  The  hope  and 
desire  of  years  was  realized  in  the  sight  of  Mont  Blanc.  My  eyes 
filled  with  tears,  and  I  thanked  God,  who  had  in  my  latter  days 
granted  me  this  great  privilege  and  unrolled  another  page  in  his 
great  book  of  Nature,  and  made  me  feel  more  than  ever  how  great 
and  sublime  He  is. 

The  lyake  of  Geneva  was  full  of  wonder  and  charm  to  me  ;  the 
beautiful,  clear  waters,  the  mountains  on  each  side,  and  of  every 
shape,  with  patches  of  snow  on  them,  the  beautiful  villages,  and 
the  houses  placed  wherever  a  house  could  be  put — all  quaint  and 
picturesque  and  to  me  vastly  interesting.  I  caught  sight  of  St. 
Perter's,  Rome,  at  6:15  P.  M.  July  24th.  I  spent  the  days  in  vis- 
iting every  point  within  and  outside  of  Rome  that  I  could  reach, 
and  storing  up  pictures  never  to  be  forgo tton.  St.  Peter's  grows 
on  you  the  oftener  you  go  ;  its  proportions  and  beauty  seem  to  im- 
prove each  time.  St.  Paul's  without  the  walls,  a  new  church  in 
a  very  unhealthy  place,  was  magnificent ;  the  beauty  of  its  mar- 
bles, the  malachite  altars,  the  gilded  roof,  the  portraits  of  all  the 
popes  in  fresco  around  the  walls — all  make  it  wonderful,  its  cost 
being  five  millions  of  dollars. 

Ancient  Rome  was  of  the  deepest  interest,  and  I  visited  each 
spot.  I  had  a  letter  to  a  partner  of  Spithoever,  and  he  was  very 
polite  and  attentive  to  me.  His  place  was  once  the  garden  of  Sal- 
lust  and  later  the  house  of  Nero,  where  he  fled  in  68  at  the  insur- 
rection of  the  Pretorian  guards.  We  were  shown  the  direction  of 
the  gate  out  of  which  he  fled,  stabbing  himself  when  he  found 
there  was  no  hope  of  escape. 

At  Constance  I  visited  the  Cathedral,  and  the  spot  where  John 
Huss  and  Jerome  were  martyred.  Every  memory  of  those  men  of 
faith  was  dear  to  me.  I  visited  Holland,  Belgium,  and  France 
on  my  return  homewards  and  again  reached  London.  I  feel  that 
my  life  has  ever  been  richer  for  my  visit  to  Europe,  and  I  feel 
deeply  grateful  to  those  friends  who  enabled  me  to  go. 

I  cannot  worthily  express  my  regard  for  Dr.  Dyer,  whose  strong 
mind,  great  wisdom,  and  noble  character  made  him  a  trusted  ad- 
viser of  Bishops  in  our  Church.  He  wrote  me  in  1897,  '"The 
Bishop,  Dr.  Dix,  Dean  of  Hoff"man,  and  others,  speak  of  the  Semi- 
nary in  the  warmest  and  strongest  terms.  How  I  do  wish  that 
some  of  the  Virginia  Bishops  had  listened  to  the  appeals  made  to 
them  to  come  to  New  York  and  help  in  increasing  the  endowment 
of  the  Seminary.  They  promised  me  in  my  sick  room  but  none 
ever  came  ;  one  of  the  saddest  disappointments  of  my  life. ' ' 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
ONE  FAMILY  IN  HEAVEN. 

"  When  soon  or  late,  they  reach  that  coast, 

O'er  life's  rough  ocean  driven 

May  they  rejoice,  no  wand'rer  lost, 

A  family  in  heaven." 

—Burns. 

As  I  draw  near  the  end  of  life  and  recall  the  many  dear  ones 
who  have  left  me,  the  next  to  the  youngest  in  a  family  of  ten,  to 
linger  on  till  the  Lord  calls  me  home,  I  have  thought  much  of 
the  reunion  of  Christians  in  paradise,  waiting  for  the  perfect 
bliss  of  heaven.  Death  is  in  one  view  the  great  separating 
power,  but  in  another,  the  great  uniter,  who  joins  again  in  an 
everlasting  love  those  who  have  been  parted. 

"  Death  with  his  healing  hand. 
Shall  once  more  knit  the  band 

Which  needs  but  that  one  link— which  none  may  sever, 
Till  through  the  only  good 
Heard,  felt  and  understood 

One  life  in  God  shall  make  us  one  forever." 

I  can  now,  in  fond  recollection,  pass  up  the  long  driveway  to  the 
home  door  which  opened  with  its  ready  welcome,  or  roam  about  the 
grounds,  or  stand  to  drink  in  the  beauty  of  the  outspreading  pros- 
pect lying  all  about  me.  The  early  light  of  the  morning  rests 
upon  that  picture,  which  the  lights  and  shadows  of  the  intervening 
years  have  not  dimmed.  But  of  that  ouce  numerous  household, 
I  alone  remain.  I  would  not  recall,  if  I  could,  those  who  have 
passed  to  the  "sweet  fields  beyond." 

"  Take  them,  O  Death  !  and  bear  away 
Whatever  thou  can'st  call  thy  own  ; 
Thine  image  stamped  upon  this  clay 
Doth  give  thee  that,  and  that  alone, 

"  Take  them,  O  Grave  !  and  let  them  lie 
Folded  upon  thy  narrow  shelves, 
As  garments  by  the  soul  laid  by, 
And  only  precious  to  ourselves. 

"  Take  them,  O  great  Eternity  I 
Our  little  life  is  but  a  gust 
That  bends  the  branches  of  thy  tree, 
And  trails  its  blossoms  in  the  dust." 

337 


338  My  Father's  Death. 

John  Locke  has  said  that  nine  out  of  ten  persons  were  what 
they  were  from  their  training  and  our  family  is  an  illustration  of 
the  importance  of  family  life  and  education,  for  we  were  piously 
trained.  The  Germans  have  a  happy  saying  that  a  man  cannot 
be  too  careful  in  the  selection  of  his  parents.  No  one  could  have 
had  better  parents  than  we.  I  have  spoken  much  of  my  father's 
Christian  character.  His  last  days  were  peaceful  and  beautiful. 
Having  been  for  forty-four  years  a  preacher,  he  was  for  twelve 
years  an  earnest  hearer  of  the  Word,  and  earnest  parishioner. 

Attending  divine  worship  and  receiving  the  Communion  on 
April  8,  he  was  in  the  evening  seized  with  a  paroxysm  of  pain, 
from  which  he  had  suffered  at  intervals  for  nearly  fifty  years, 
caused  by  the  c  ilculi  in  the  gall  ducts.  During  the  next  fortnight 
he  had  two  or  three  more,  and  on  April  22,  he  had  another,  when 
for  two  hours  his  agony  was  extreme.  Retaining  his  conscious- 
ness to  the  last  he  passed  away  at  3  A.  M.,  April  25,  1849.  His 
was  a  strong  but  well-rounded  character  ;  he  loved  society  and 
formed  new  acquaintances  very  easily  ;  his  strong  sympathy  with 
the  young  was  remarkable,  and  few  have  gone  to  the  grave,  at 
his  age,  with  so  many  personal  friends.  He  had  uncommon 
buoyancy  of  spirit  and  this  with  habitual  trust  in  God  enabled 
him  to  throw  off  or  bear  cheerfully  heavy  burdens  ;  he  had  learned 
in  whatever  situation  he  was,  therewith  to  be  content.  Having 
a  great  and  magnanimous  spirit  he  never  cherished  an  enmity  or 
forgot  a  friend.  During  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life  he  had  felt 
like  Dr.  Doddridge  that  he  was  not  anxious  when  he  lay  down  at 
night  whether  he  awoke  in  this  world  or  the  next.  Some  of  his 
last  sayings  were,  "  God  seems  to  permit  me  to  live  so  long  that 
He  ma)'  give  me  clearer  manifestations  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
older  I  grow,  the  more  clear  God's  promises  appear.  Eternity 
now  seems  very  near,  and  I  realize  more  the  glory  and  goodness 
of  God." 

He  was  buried  at  Wiscasset,  and  though  twenty  years  had 
passed  since  he  had  left  it,  a  crowded  assembly  witnessed  the 
solemn  services,  and  followed  th,-  body  to  the  cemetery. 

The  following  inscription  is  on  his  tombstone  at  Wiscasset : 

Rev.  Hezekiah  Packard,  D.  D. 

Born  Dec.  6,  1761. 

A  Soldier  of  the  Revolution,  Grad.  Harvard  Univ.  1787, 

Tutor  in  same  4  years. 

A  minister  of  the  Gospel  44  years, 

in  this  town  28  years. 


My  Mother's  Last  Days.  339 

Died  in  peace  and  triumph  at  Salem,  Mass., 

April  25,  1849,  aged  87  years  and  4  months. 

He  was  a  sincere  servant  of  Christ,  a  lover 

of  mankind,  a  successful  and  beloved 

teacher  of  youth,  a  warm  friend, 

a  man  in  whom  was  no  guile. 

"  The  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed." 

My  mother's  religious  experience  is  interesting.  She  had  been 
brought  up  among  Unitarians,  and  had  not,  it  was  thought,  very 
clear  views  of  the  Deity  of  Christ  and  of  the  Atonement.  A  con- 
versation, which  my  brother  had  with  her,  shortly  before  her 
death,  showed,  however,  that  we  had  been  mistaken.  I  will  give 
its  substance,  as  the  testimony  of  Christian  experience,  which  is 
always  valuable. 

She  was  very  reserved  on  the  subject  of  personal  religion  and 
had  never  talked  much  of  herself.     She  said  : 

"  I  was  reading  the  hymn,  from  Watts, 

'  Show  pity,  Lord,  O  Lord  forgive, 
Let  a  repenting  rebel  live,' 

but  I  could  not  get  through  it.  A  sense  of  God's  goodness  and 
of  my  own  ingratitude  overwhelmed  me.  I  always  had  a  sense  of 
sin  and  unworthiness,  but  have  never  shed  tears  of  contrition 
before.  I  feel  wholly  unworthy  ;  my  best  services  are  sinful.  I 
have  committed  no  gross  sins,  but  the  heart  is  deceitful.  Secret 
sins  of  the  heart  I  lament,  yet  fear  I  may  be  deceived.  I  pray. 
Lord,  shew  me  myself;  spare  not.  My  only  hope  is  Jesus  Christ. 
He  is  my  all.  I  have  no  righteousness  of  my  own.  I  trust  in 
Him  alone. 

"I  never  had  fears  of  death.  I  think  little  of  punishment.  I 
want  to  be  purified,  to  be  made  like  God,  like  the  Saviour.  I  am 
olten  afraid  I  am  deceived.  I  fear  that  the  offering  of  myself  is 
not  worth  His  acceptance."  She  ascribed  the  feelings  she  had  to 
the  influences  of  God's  Spirit.  "  I  know,"  she  said,  "  that  God's 
grace  is  free  ;  I  have  nothing  to  recommend  me.  I  must  adore  His 
grace."  She  felt  Go  J  would  be  just  in  casting  her  oflf,  for  she 
had  abused  His  mercies.  She  did  not  know  that  she  had  thought 
lightly  of  the  Saviour,  but  felt  that  she  had  most  ungratefully 
neglected  Him. 

Her  patience  and  resignation  were  remarkable.  "  I  feel  that 
God  has  been  good  to  me.  I  have  no  complaint  to  make.  I 
think  I  can  see  much  suffering  before  me,  but  I  leave  that  and 
my  end  in  the  hands  of  God.     I  have  given  up  the  world. ' ' 


340  My  Brother  William. 

Speaking  of  a  possible  recovery,  she  said  "  All  in  perfect  sub- 
mission ;  I  leave  it  with  God."  Asked  what  subject  occupied 
her  thoughts,  she  said  "  Christ  and  His  Cross.  All  power  is  com- 
mitted to  Him.  He  is  almighty  and  willing  to  save.  He  is 
exalted  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour.  I  have  committed  myself 
to  Him.  lyast  winter  I  studied  the  New  Testament  a  good  deal, 
and  I  found  the  atonement  brought  to  view  everywhere  ;  it  was 
the  principal  thing.  I  felt  I  needed  the  atonement.  I  could  not 
become  like  God  without  it.  We  could  not  appear  before  God 
were  there  no  daysman  between  us." 

She  never  murmured  or  complained  about  herself.  When  her 
pillows  were  fixed,  she  said  "  How  easy  a  sick  bed  can  be  made  !  " 
She  lamented  that  she  could  not  fix  her  mind  on  any  subject  from 
weakness.  "  A  poor  time  to  prepare  !  All  my  preparation  must 
have  been  made  before  this.  I  think  I  can  not  be  with  you  long. 
How  dreadful  this  hour  to  those  who  have  no  confidence  !  My 
prayer  always  must  be,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  "  I 
feel,"  she  said,  "  If  I  can  only  get  through  I  shall  be  safe  beyond. 
I  need  fear  no  evil  then,"  and  she  quoted  Mason's  lines, 

"  The  dread  path,  ouce  trod, 
Heaven  lifts  its  everlasting  portals  high." 

She  had  caught  cold  from  standing  in  the  snow  in  thin  shoes 
at  a  burial.     Overshoes  were  not  used  then. 

She  passed  away  in  the  early  morning  with  all  her  children  around 
her,  without  a  groan  or  struggle,  being  spared  the  agonies  which 
we  had  dreaded  from  her  disease.  It  was  while  I  was  at  college, 
September  i8,  1829,  a  day  I  have  ever  remembered  these  seventy- 
two  years.  The  death-bed  of  a  believer  should  ititerest  and  help 
all  believers.  It  is  a  scene  through  which  we  all  must  pass,  and 
it  is  well  to  know  how  others  have  fought  the  fight  with  the  last 
enemy,  and  how  they  kept  the  faith  in  sickness  and  death,  and 
were  enabled  to  finish  their  course  with  joy. 

My  brother  William  four  years  younger  than  myself  was  the 
next  after  my  mother  to  leave  our  family  circle.  He  was  a  beau- 
tiful youth,  of  high  character  and  aims,  and  was  taken  ill  in  No- 
vember while  at  college,  came  home  and  died  January  28,  1834, 
in  his  eighteenth  year.  I  give  some  of  his  religious  experiences. 
"  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  how  precious  the  Saviour  appears  to  me. 
He  is  infinitely  precious.  How  strange  it  is  that  people  do  not 
think  more  of  him.  I  enjoy  my  meditations  at  night  when  I  am 
awake  very  often,"     Being  asked  what  idea  he  had  of  heaven  he 


My  Brother  Charles.  341 

said,  "  I  shall  meet  my  Saviour  there,  and  I  have  given  myself  to 
Him,  I  shall  be  free  from  the  trials  of  life,  and  then  I  shall  meet 
mother."  Ke  feared  that  he  would  be  impatient,  that  his  suffer- 
ings would  be  too  much  for  him.  He  suffered  terribly,  and  said, 
"  I  thought  I  was  dying,  but  I  prayed  that  I  might  be  supported 
and  felt  very  happy."  He  prayed  for  patience  and  submission. 
His  distress  was  beyond  description  on  his  last  Monday.  He  could 
not  speak  but  groaned  bitterly.  A  half  hour  before  he  died  he  was 
perfectly  sensible  of  his  situation  and  said  he  was  going,  that  he 
was  "  willing,  willing."  He  named  each  one  of  the  family,  and 
said,  "  Oh,  how  I  love  you  all !  "  He  then  exclaimed.  "  Oh,  the 
Lord  Jesus  !  Oh,  how  lovely  !  lovely  !  lovely  !  "  and  the  expression 
of  his  face  was  heavenly,  and  he  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  If  St.  Stephen 
beheld  the  Lord  Jesus  with  his  bodily  eyes,  why  may  we  not  be- 
lieve that  this  young  Christian  beheld  him. 

My  brother  Charles  was  born  April  12,  i8oi,  and  at  the  age  of 
nine  an  accident  confined  him  to  a  bed  of  suffering  for  many 
months.  In  splitting  wood,  the  axe  glanced  and  entered  his  knee. 
His  life  was  despaired  of,  and  even  the  spot  was  selected  for  his 
burial.  He  was  cut  off  from  active  pursuits  for  several  years,  and 
read  much.  Miss  Edgeworth's  "Parents'  Assistant"  being  then  just 
published.  He  read  with  great  interest  and  rapidity  the  Bible, 
going  through  it  several  times  before  he  was  twelve  years  old. 
He  was  prepared  under  his  father's  instruction  to  enter  Bowdoin 
College  at  the  age  of  twelve,  and  graduated  at  sixteen  with  honor. 
He  was  a  good  Latin,  Greek  and  French  scholar,  corresponding 
in  Latin  with  his  brother.  After  teaching  five  years  he  began  the 
study  of  law,  and  in  1824  began  its  practice  in  Brunswick,  where 
he  spent  eleven  years.  He  married,  in  November,  Miss  Rebecca 
Prentiss,  daughter  of  Hon.  W.  A.  Kent,  of  Concord,  N.  H.,  and 
Mrs.  Packard  and  four  children  survive.  He  had  been  an  upright 
and  moral  man,  but  not  a  Christian.  In  March,  1834,  two  months 
after  his  brother's  death,  a  series  of  religious  services  were  held, 
at  one  of  which  a  sermon  by  Dr.  Pond  on  the  text,  "  I  thought 
on  my  ways  and  turned  my  feet  unto  Thy  testimonies,"  aroused 
him.  He  said,  "  I  don't  like  to  think  of  God  ;  but  I  see  that  I 
must,  and  I  will."  He  thought  of  sin  till  his  sin  became  a  real- 
ity and  a  guilty  thing.  He  thought  of  Jesus  as  a  Saviour  till  his 
heart  went  forth  to  Him  in  trust  and  love,  and  he  consecrated 
himself  to  that  Saviour's  service.  After  uniting  with  the  Church, 
he  decided  to  enter  the  ministry,  giving  up  his  home  and  con- 

8? 


342  My  Brothers  Hezekiah  and  George. 

genial  friends.     He  studied  at  Andover  and  Lane  Seminaries  ; 
worked  in  the  West  and  later  in  his  native  State  of  Massachu- 
setts, at  Lancaster  and  Biddeford,   everywhere  preaching  Christ 
and    building    up    His    Kingdom    of   righteousness.     He    was 
Moderator  of  the  State  Conference  the  last  three  years  of  his  life. 
His  end  was  very  sudden  and  peaceful.     Wednesday  afternoon, 
February  17,  1864,  he  attended  a  prayer  meeting,  where  all  marked 
his  vigor  and  earnestness.     After  family  prayers,  though  a  bitter 
night,  he  went  out  to  a  lecture,  returning  twice  into  the  room  to 
make  some  playful  remark  and  kissing  his  wife,  saying,  "we 
have  been  married  thirty-five  years  ;  we  have  lived  together  very 
happily."     A  genial  man,  a  Christian  man  to  the  last,  and  more 
and  more  such,  as   the  hour  unknown   to  him   and  to  all  drew 
nigh.     On  his  return  just  before  reaching   his  home  a  sudden 
distress  came  upon  him.     He  entered  a  neighbor's  house  and  in 
less  than  four  minutes  breathed  his  last.     His  character  might  be 
described  in  one  word  manliness,  in  the  best  and  highest  sense. 
Manly  wisdom,  dignity,  childlike  transparency,  honesty  and  true- 
heartedness  were  his,  with  a  playful  humor,  a  loyalty  to  truth  and 
duty,  that   made   him   beloved   and   respected.     His   preaching 
covered  a  wide  range  of  subjects  and  was  strong  and  independent. 
My  brother  Hezekiah  was  the  next  one  called  away,  June  23, 
1867,  alter  most  intense  suffering  for  ten  hours.     He  had  been  deli- 
cate for  many  years,  suflfering  greatly  from  his  throat,  and  death 
which  came  to  him,  a  true  Christian,  was  a  blessed  release.    He  had 
studied  medicine  but  fainted  at  the  sight  of  blood  and  gave  up  the 
profession  after  completing  his  course.     He  was  a  teacher  and  in 
his  work  almost  a  minister,     George,  next  to  Charles  in  age,  was 
born  May  23,  1803,  was  married  May  21,  1833,  and  was  ordained 
May  22,  1843.     He  had  been  for  fifteen  years  a  most  successful 
physician,  when  he  decided  to  become  a  minister  and  entered  our 
Seminary,     He  was  ordained  in   Richmond  at  the  Council  and 
Rev.  Dr.  Milner   preached  the  ordination  sermon.     We  stayed 
with  Dr.  James  Bolton,  a  physician  who  came  to  the  Seminary 
and  was  ordained  in   1845.     When  a   physician  George  was  in 
Rev.  Horatio  Potter's  parish,  who  valued  him  most  highly  and 
went  on    from  New  York  to  Lawrence  to  visit  him  in  his  last  ill- 
ness.    He  suffered  from  heart  disease   for  sometime,   but    only 
severely  for  a  fortnight  before  his  death.     He  met  his  death  with 
perfect  serenity  and  never  lost  his  interest  in  passing  events,  was 
Uie  Tirs*:  of  the  family  to  speak  of  its  being  Thanksgiving  Day, 


My  Brother  Alpheus.  343 

read  a  newspaper  that  forenoon,  and  yet  was  looking  forward  to 
the  end  at  any  moment.  He  suffered  greatly  that  evening  until 
8  o'clock  when  he  breathed  his  last,  November  30,  1876. 

The  burial  service  was  conducted  by  Bishop  Paddock,  Rev. 
W.  P.  Tucker,  his  nephew,  and  Rev.  William  Lawrence,  his 
assistant,  the  Bishop  making  a  tender  and  appropriate  address. 
The  church  was  crowded  and  the  street  outside  ;  the  city  bell 
was  tolled,  and  the  schools  were  dismissed  in  token  of  respect 
for  their  superior  for  so  many  years.  Nothing  was  wanting  to 
testify  the  strong  feeling  which  pervaded  the  community  of 
Ivawrence  at  the  removal  of  "  their  first  citizen,"  as  the  Congre- 
gational minister  pronounced  him,  who  for  more  than  thirty  years 
had  labored  there.  His  Christian  character  was  beautiful  and 
complete ;  a  wise,  tender,  faithful  pastor  and  friend,  an  earnest 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  a  public  spirited  citizen,  a  brother  beloved, 
he  was  a  living  Bible,  or  as  a  heathen  convert  said  of  a  mission- 
ary, "  There  is  no  difference  between  him  and  the  Book."  He 
once  said  that  his  Christian  hope  rested  more  on  what  he  believed 
to  have  been  the  general  loyalty  of  his  life  than  on  any  peculiar 
and  special  experiences. 

Alpheus  Spring  was  born  the  same  day  and  month,  December 
23,  being  fourteen  years  older  than  I.  Our  lives  have  been  won- 
derfully alike,  both  ministers,  both  professors,  and  for  the  same 
length  of  time,  sixty-five  years,  connected  with  our  respective 
institutions.  Each  of  us  had  a  semi-centennial,  when  we  received 
most  gratifying  expressions  of  affection  from  our  students,  and  a 
purse  containing  the  same  amount,  more  than  a  thousand  dollars. 
I  suppose  there  never  was  a  case  like  it.  I  recall  but  one  aca- 
demic career  in  this  country  that  approaches  his  in  duration, 
that  of  Dr.  Nott,  President  of  Union  College  for  sixty-two  years  ; 
and  but  one  in  England  that  exceeds  it,  that  of  Martin  Joseph 
Routh,  who  was  appointed  Librarian  of  Magdalen  College, 
Oxford,  in  1781,  and  President  in  1791,  and  who  died  in  1854, 
after  a  service  of  seventy-three  years,  dying  in  his  one  hundredth 
year. 

"  I  had  a  brother  once  ; 
Peace  to  the  memory  of  a  man  of  worth  ! 
A  man  of  letters  and  of  manners  too  ; 
Of  manners  sweet  as  virtue  always  wears, 
When  gay  good-humor  dresses  her  in  smiles. 
He  graced  a  college,  in  which  order  yet 
Was  sacred  ;  and  was  honored,  loved  and  wept, 
By  more  than  one,  themselves  conspicuous  there," 


344  M:y  Sisters. 

With  sunny  and  benignant  presence,  with  transparent,  con- 
sistent and  lovely  character,  with  no  thought  of  self,  he  lived  in 
and  for  the  College,  so  that  he  became  to  its  graduates  "  the  soul'^ 
of  Bowdoin  and  a  visible  embodiment  of  the  College  and  what  it 
stood  for  during  the  century. 

He  once  told  me  that  he  had  never  been  sick  a  day  in  his  life. 
He  was  Acting  President  of  Bowdoin,  and  presided  at  the  com- 
mencement with  unusual  grace  and  power ;  then  went  ofiF  for  a 
few  days'  rest,  and  after  service  at  church  walked  on  the  seashore, 
where  he  was  seen  to  fall.  He  was  carried  to  the  house,  where, 
after  a  few  minutes  and  a  few  parting  words — "No  pain;" 
"  Going" — he  breathed  his  last. 

"It  was  a  peculiar  pleasure  to  the  Alumni  to  return  to  Bow- 
doin at  the  annual  commencement,  there  to  find  the  venerable 
Professor  of  Greek,  with  his  fresh  countenance,  his  polished  Eng- 
lish, his  courtesy,  and  his  cultivated  mind,  unimpaired."  He  lies 
buried  in  the  pine-girt  cemetery  near  the  College — 

*  *        *        "  Where  the  shade 

He  loved  well  will  guard  his  slumbers  night  and  day. 

*  *        *  Fitting  close 

For  such  a  life  !  His  twelve  long,  sunny  hours 
Bright  to  the  edge  of  darkness  :  then  the  calm 
Repose  of  twilight,  and  a  crown  of  stars." 

My  sister  Mary,  wife  of  Jonathan  Tucker,  of  Salem,  was  a 
devout  Christian,  a  wise  and  loving  mother,  and  her  death,  March 
14,  1887,  added  one  more  to  the  family  in  Heaven. 

My  oldest  sister,  Sarah,  on  my  mother's  death,  took  charge  of 
our  family,  and  when  we  were  grown  she  did  the  same  for  brother 
Alpheus'  family  for  five  years  after  the  death  of  his  wife.  She  had 
a  great  influence  for  good,  and  was  said  to  be  the  cause  of  Mr. 
Merrick's  conversion  when  ninety  years  of  age.  She  was  like  a 
Sister  of  Charity,  unselfish,  devoted,  wise,  and  firm  in  faith.  She 
fell  asleep  in  May,  1894. 

A  foretaste  of  the  blessed  reunion  of  Paradise  was  granted  us 
when,  in  1847,  two  years  before  my  father's  death,  his  seven  sur- 
viving children  gathered  around  him  at  the  Holy  Communion. 
The  mother  had  long  since  gone  to  her  rest,  and  the  youngest  son. 

Of  the  five  sons,  four  were  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and  all  the 
children  were  partakers  of  like  precious  faith.     Such  a  meeting 


One  FamiIvY  in  Hkaven.  345 

has  been  rarely  witnessed,  and  the  thought  that  never  again  on 
earth  would  we  all  meet  together  brought  nearer  to  our  hearts 
Heaven,  with  its  perfect  union.  We  prayed  together  fervently  ; 
we  sang 

"  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 
Our  hearts  in  Christian  love," 

and  commended  each  other  to  a  covenant-keeping  God,  praying 
that  our  children  might  be  saved  with  us  forever,  and  thanking 
God  that  we  had  such  a  father  and  mother. 

I  must  here  add  a  short  sketch  of  my  first  cousin,  Frederick  A. 
Packard,  of  Philadelphia.  Born  in  Marlboro,  Massachusetts, 
September  26,  1794,  he  was  prepared  for  college  by  my  father,  to 
whose  influence  he  ascribed  much  of  his  success  in  life.  He 
graduated  with  honors  at  Harvard  College  in  1814,  his  commence- 
ment oration  was  delivered  in  the  Hebrew  language  ;  became 
editor  of  the  Hampshire  Federalist  va  1819,  and  married  Klizabeth 
Dwight  Hooker  in  1822,  and  practiced  law  in  Springfield.  When 
about  twenty  he  united  with  the  Congregational  Church  and  was 
very  earnest,  especially  in  Sunday-school  work.  In  1828  he 
visited  Philadelphia  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  American  Sunday 
School  Union  and  so  impressed  them  that  he  was  at  once  offered 
the  position  of  editorial  secretary.  This  he  accepted  and  at  the 
cost  of  flourishing  worldly  prospects  for  thirty-eight  years  he  dis- 
charged its  duties  with  signal  ability  and  fidelity.  Every  book 
issued  by  that  society  for  thirty-six  years  was  by  him  prepared 
for  and  carried  through  the  press,  in  number  over  two  thousand, 
fifty  of  them  being  the  product  of  his  own  fertile  brain.  Besides 
these  he  edited  all  the  weekly  and  monthly  products  of  the  Union 
for  thirty  years.  He  was  interested  in  all  public  affairs  and  twice 
declined  the  presidency  of  Girard  College.  His  words  were  "  I 
place  this  guilty  hand  upon  the  L,amb  of  God  and  say,  '  The 
Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.'  "  He  died 
November,  1867.  His  son  Lewis  R.  was  Professor  of  Greek  at 
Yale,  dying  in  1884  at  the  height  of  his  fame  and  usefulness. 
Another  son.  Dr.  John  H.  Packard,  a  famous  surgeon  and  physi- 
cian, still  survives  and  at  his  house  as  at  his  father's  I  have  spent 
many  happy  days.  The  five  sons  of  Dr.  Packard  have  achieved 
great  success  in  Philadelphia,  two  as  physicians  and  three  as 
business  men.     A  blessing  I  doubt  not  rests  on  them  from  their 


346  One  FamiIvY  in  Heaven. 

pious  ancestry.  [A  sad  blow  has  fallen  upon  this  family  in  the 
death  from  typhoid  fever  on  November  i,  1902,  All  Saints'  Day, 
of  Dr.  Frederick  A  Packard,  a  brilliant  physician  in  the  prime  of 
his  noble  manhood  and  usefulness. — Kditor.] 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

LAST  DAYS. 

[In  this  chapter  I  give  a  brief  account  of  my  father's  last 
days  and  some  estimate  of  his  life  and  character  from  the  pen  of 
others. — Editor.  ] 

EVER  since  the  appearance  of  "  the  grip  "  some  ten  years  ago, 
my  father  suffered  from  frequent  attacks  of  it  each  year, 
but,  thanks  to  his  powerful  constitution,  rallied,  though  his  end 
seemed  sometimes  near.  In  February,  1902,  he  was  again 
attacked  by  it,  got  up  again,  went  about  the  house,  and  on  pleasant 
days  sat  out  on  the  porch.  Early  in  March  he  took  to  his  bed, 
which  he  kept  until  his  death.  May  3,  IQ02,  except  on  two  occa- 
sions, when  he  was  carried  to  the  window,  as  he  desired,  to  look 
upon  the  landscape  he  had  loved  so  long  and  well.  When  he  saw 
the  green  grass  and  the  blossoming  shrubbery  he  gave  an  exclama- 
tion of  delight.  He  felt  always  very  grateful  that  he  was  allowed 
to  stay  in  the  home  so  endeared  to  him  by  the  long  association  of 
more  than  threescore  years,  whose  grand  old  oaks  were  objects  of 
affection  to  him.  Speaking  of  this  home,  he  once  said,  ' '  How  can 
I  leave  thee,  paradise  ? ' ' 

He  had  for  some  time  been  trying  to  teach  the  young  colored 
man  who  waited  on  him  the  great  truths  of  salvation  through 
simple  hymns  which  the  boy  could  remember.  The  morning 
before  he  died,  when  his  pulse  was  but  a  thread,  he  said  to  him, 
"  I  the  chief — "  and  stopped.  The  boy  quickly  responded,  "  I 
the  chief  of  sinners  am,  but  Jesus  died  for  me."  That  same 
morning  he  said  repeatedly  to  himself,  ' '  Jesus  !  Jesus  !  Jesus  ! ' ' 
He  asked  for  the  best  hymn  of  all,  and  when  "Just  as  I  am" 
was  repeated  his  face  lighted  up  ;  another  time  he  was  heard  to 
say, 

"Thou  o'erlook'st  the  guilty  stain, 
And  washest  out  the  crimson  dye." 

All  that  the  loving  care  of  a  devoted  daughter  could  do,  or  the 
skill  of  the  physician  could  suggest,  was  done  to  relieve  his  weary 
or  suffering  hours,  and  God  did  wonderfully  "  make  all  his  bed 

347 


348  Conscious  to  the  End. 

in  his  sickness."  He  retained  his  interest  in  passing  events  to 
the  very  last.  I  had  been  with  him  April  30,  but  was  to  attend 
the  consecration  of  Rev-  Dr.  Mackay-Smith  as  Bishop  Coadjutor 
of  Pennsylvania,  May  i.  An  hour  before  leaving  I  was  called  to 
his  bedside  at  5  A.  M.,  when  we  thought  him  dying.  He 
rallied  a  little  that  day  ;  and  the  next  day,  though  his  pulse  was 
hardly  perceptible,  he  asked  me  about  the  consecration.  I  told 
him  there  was  an  account  in  the  papers,  he  said,  "  Read  it  to 
me,"  and  when  told  he  was  too  weak,  said,  "Put  the  paper 
away."  Saturday  morning  at  nine  o'clock  he  gently  breathed  his 
last. 

My  father  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  in  his  lifetime  many 
gracious  words  and  acts  of  appreciation  from  his  old  students, 
which  cheered  and  gratified  him  greatly.  His  semi-centennial 
took  place  at  the  Commencement  of  1886,  when  he  had  com- 
pleted his  fiftieth  year  of  service,  and  four  bishops  and  eighty 
clergymen  whom  he  had  taught  assembled  to  do  him  honor,  and 
presented  him  with  a  handsome  purse  of  money,  and  a  handsome 
chair  from  the  class  of  1886.  Beautiful  were  the  expressions  of 
esteem  and  affection  of  which  he  felt  himself  unworthy. 

On  the  sixtieth  anniversary  the  professors  and  students  came 
over  in  a  body  to  give  him  their  greeting.  Dr.  Walker  in  a  few 
gracious  words  expressed  their  good  wishes,  and  he  replied  that 
he  had  little  expected  when  he  came  here  sixty  years  ago  that  he 
would  stay  so  long  ;  that  he  wished  he  had  done  more  for  Christ ; 
that  he  had  been  conscientious.  To  the  students  he  said  that  life 
was  before  them  full  of  opportunities,  while  it  was  behind  him  ; 
that  he  regretted  not  using  all  his  opportunities  of  personal  influ- 
ence, and  that  he  felt  there  was  no  greater  happiness  in  the  world 
than  to  be  called  of  God  to  be  a  minister  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.  I  add  here  tributes  paid  by  his  colleague  Rev.  Dr. 
Wallis  in  the  Southern  Churchvian,  and  by  others. 

"  Dr.  Packard  had  been  associated  with  all  the  professors  of  the 
Seminary,  and  all  those  who  were  his  colleagues  during  his  life- 
time. The  following  have  had  the  privilege  of  studying  under 
him  at  the  Seminary  :  Professors  Walker,  Kinloch  Nelson,  Carl 
B.  Grammer,  S.  A.  Wallis,  R.  K.  Massie,  and  Berryman  Green. 
Dr.  Packard  thus,  in  his  singularly  honorable  and  honored  life, 
united  the  past  and  the  present  in  the  institution  to  which  he 
gave  such  a  long  period  of  consecrated  service.     On  the  death  of 


Dr.  Wallis'  Account.  349 

Dr.  Sparrow,  in  1874,  he  was  appointed  the  dean  of  the  Semi- 
nary, occupying  that  position  until  his  resignation,  in  1895, 
being  succeeded  in  his  turn  by  the  Rev.  Professor  Walker. 

' '  Twenty-two  Bishops  sat  under  Dr.  Packard  as  students  dur- 
ing the  years  of  his  long  professorship  at  the  Seminary.  Among 
these  were  Bishop  Payne,  of  Africa;  Bishops  Wilmer,  of  Alabama  ; 
Bedell,  of  Ohio  ;  Whittle,  of  Virginia  ;  Henry  C.  Potter,  of  New 
York  ;  Randolph,  of  Southern  Virginia  ;  Dudley,  of  Kentucky  ; 
Phillips  Brooks,  of  Massachusetts  ;  Peterkin,  of  West  Virginia, 
and  Gibson,  Coadjutor  of  Virginia.  Besides  the  noted  list  of 
those  who  have  been  called  to  the  high  position  of  Bishops  in  the 
Church  of  God,  a  goodly  number  of  Dr.  Packard's  students  have 
gone  forth  as  missionaries  at  home  and  abroad,  forming  that 
noble  roll  of  honor  which  has  made  the  Virginia  Seminary  known 
throughout  the  world. 

"  As  the  Nestor  of  the  Seminary,  Dr.  Packard  was  looked 
up  to  with  peculiar  love  and  veneration  by  all  on  the  '  Hill,' 
and  hosts  of  friends,  both  clerical  and  lay,  in  every  part  of  the 
country.  In  the  city  of  Alexandria  he  is  remembered  by  the 
older  residents  with  peculiar  affection,  owing  to  the  pastoral 
relations  established  between  him  and  many  of  these,  who  were 
as  sheep  having  no  shepherd  during  the  dark  days  of  the  Civil 
War. 

' '  Dr.  Packard  was  a  noble  type  of  the  Christian  minister  and 
gentleman.  He  was,  on  account  of  his  long  life,  the  faithful 
guardian  of  those  traditions  which  have  kept  the  Seminary  true 
to  the  high  principles  upon  which  it  was  founded.  These  are  a 
fearless  devotion  to  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  loyalty 
to  the  historic  episcopate,  and  a  steadfast  adherence  to  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  as  embodying  the  noblest  form  of  Christian 
worship,  handed  down  from  primitive  times,  reasserted  in  its 
purity  by  the  English  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century.  To 
these  were  added  that  apostolic  missionary  spirit  which  Dr. 
Packard  fostered  with  untiring  devotion,  and  as  the  years  rolled 
by  he  inspired  others  by  telling  them  of  the  heroic  endurance, 
lofty  spirituality,  and  love  for  perishing  souls  which  character- 
ized such  men  as  Bishops  Boone  and  Payne,  Dauncelot  Minor  and 
Colden  Hoffman. 

"  Dr.    Packard  was  a   man  of  deep   spirituality,   unflinching 
adherence  to  principle,  and  was  always  a  kind   and   judicious 


350  Dr.  WALiyis'  Account. 

counsellor.  He  was  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  he  loved  the  rich 
treasures  of  Christian  hymnology,  and  was  well  read  in  the  best 
literature,  being  especially  devoted  to  biography.  To  the  very 
last  he  manifested  the  greatest  interest  in  the  progress  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  and  of  the  world  at  large. 

"  Dr.  Packard's  home  was  the  centre  of  abounding  hospitality^ 
and  hundreds  of  students  look  back  to  that  home  as  one  of  the 
most  cherished  remembrances  of  their  Seminary  life.  His  name 
is  held  in  devoted  affection  by  many  hearts,  and  now  that  he  is 
gone  there  must  be,  for  years  to  come,  a  deep  sense  of  loss  to 
those  who  have  regularly  attended  the  commencements  as  they 
realize  that  the  place  which  knew  him  so  long  will  know  him  no 
more  forever.  But  the  memory  of  his  noble  Christian  life,  both 
as  a  minister  and  professor,  will  be  a  precious  heritage  for  the 
Seminary  and  the  Church  at  large,  for  while  he  was  a  devoted 
son  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  he  was  purely  catholic  in  his  sym- 
pathies and  loved  all  who  loved  and  served  Christ. 

"Dr.  Packard  was  for  twenty-eight  years  the  honored  presi- 
dent of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Episcopal  Diocese  of 
Virginia,  and  occupied  that  position  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
He  was  also  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Education 
Society  of  Virginia,  and  president  of  its  executive  committee. 

"  He  was  honored  by  being  appointed  a  member  of  the  Ameri- 
can Committee  for  the  Revision  of  the  English  Bible,  which 
worked  in  concert  with  the  English  committee.  He  belonged  to 
the  Old  Testament  division  of  this  committee. 

"  Dr.  Packard  married  shortly  after  coming  to  the  Seminary 
Miss  Rosina  Jones,  daughter  of  General  Walter  Jones,  a  promi- 
nent lawyer  and  well-known  public  man  of  Washington,  D.  C. 
She  died  several  years  ago.  His  surviving  children  are  Joseph 
Packard,  Esq.,  of  Baltimore  ;  the  Rev.  Thomas  Jones  Packard, 
of  Rockville,  Maryland  ;  Miss  Cornelia  J.  Packard,  who  has  been 
the  head  of  his  home  since  Mrs.  Packard's  death,  and  Miss  Mary 
Packard,  missionary  to  Brazil.  Dr.  Packard  gave  two  of  his 
sons  to  the  Southern  cause  during  the  war  between  the  States. 
Their  names  are  inscribed  on  the  historic  tablet  in  the  chapel  of 
the  Episcopal  High  School.  Two  daughters  are  dead.  One  was 
the  wife  of  the  late  Rev.  W.  H.  lyaird,  of  Maryland  ;  the  other 
was  Miss  Nannie  Packard,  who  died  several  years  ago. 

' '  The  funeral  of  the  late  Professor  Packard  took  place  in  the 
chapel  of  the  Theological  Seminary  on  Tuesday,  the  6th  instant. 


Burial  Services.  35  i 

At  half-past  12  o'clock  the  students  and  professors  went  to  the 
Doctor's  late  residence  and  brought  the  body  over  to  the  chapel, 
where  it  lay  near  the  main  entrance  until  2  o'clock,  the  hour 
appointed  for  the  last  rites.  The  casket  containing  the  remains 
was  carried  from  the  house  on  a  bier  borne  by  twelve  students  of 
the  Seminary  acting  in  relays.  It  was  guarded  while  it  lay  in  the 
chapel  by  students,  and  a  number  of  persons  attending  the  funeral 
looked  upon  Dr.  Packard's  face,  so  peaceful  in  death,  for  the  last 
time. 

"  Shortly  before  2  o'clock  the  professors,  clergy,  members  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Seminary,  members  of  the  Standing 
Committee  of  the  Diocese  of  Virginia,  and  of  the  Education 
Society,  together  with  the  students,  assembled  in  Prayer  Hall  to 
form  in  procession.  Dr.  Crawford,  dean  of  the  Seminary,  had 
charge  of  the  service.  The  vested  clergy,  who  occupied  seats  in  the 
chancel,  were  Bishop  Gibson,  Dr.  Crawford,  with  the  rest  of  the 
Faculty,  Adjunct-Professor  Green,  and  Drs.  Walker  and  Carl 
Grammer,  former  professors  at  the  Seminary.  These  preceded 
the  body  as  it  was  borne  up  the  aisle  of  the  chapel.  Dean  Crawford 
reading  the  sentences.  The  burial  Psalms  were  chanted  by  the 
choir,  the  Lesson  was  read  by  the  Rev.  Carl  Grammer,  S.  T.  D., 
and  the  Creed  and  prayers  by  Dr.  Crawford.  The  service  in  the 
chapel  closed  with  the  singing  of  the  Nunc  Dimittis,  during 
which  the  congregation  remained  kneeling. 

' '  The  procession  then  reformed  and  passed  down  the  beautiful 
path  leading  to  the  last  resting  place  on  a  lovely  slope  to  the 
southeast  of  the  chapel  within  the  Seminary  grounds.  The  body 
was  reverently  lowered  into  the  grave.  Dr.  Crawford  reading  the 
committal  and  Bishop  Gibson  the  closing  prayers.  As  soon  as 
the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Bishop  the  choir  sang  two 
of  Dr.  Packard's  favorite  hymns  in  succession — '  Holy,  Holy, 
Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty  '  and  '  The  strife  is  o'er,  the  battle 
done.'  Another  favorite  of,  his  'Just  as  I  am  without  one 
plea,'  was  sung  in  the  chapel  immediately  after  the  Lesson. 
The  service  was  most  solemn  and  impressive  in  its  reverent  sim- 
plicity and  dignity,  keyed  to  the  high  strains  of  Christian  hope 
and  victory  over  death  through  faith  in  the  resurrection  of  our 
Lord. 

"  As  we  laid  our  beloved  and  venerated  professor  to  rest  on 
our  eastward  hill  the  beautiful  words  written  by  Dean  Alford  on 


352  Editoriai.  of  Southern  Churchman. 

the  funeral  of   Canon   Chesshyre   at  St.    Martin's,  Canterbury, 
seemed  so  appropriate  : 

"  We  stood,  his  brothers,  o'er  him,  in  the  sacred  garb  he  wore  ; 
We  thought  of  all  we  owed  him,  and  of  all  we  hoped  for  more  ; 
Our  Zion's  desolation  on  every  heart  felt  chill. 
As  we  left  him  slowly  winding  down  that  ancient  eastward  hill. 

"  To  our  places  in  the  vineyard  of  our  God  return  we  now, 
With  kindled  eye,  with  onward  step,  with  hand  upon  the  plough  ; 
Our  hearts  are  safely  anchored  ;  our  hopes  have  richer  store  ; 
One  treasure  more  in  heaven  is  ours,  one  bright  example  more.  " 

' '  Few  lives  in  this  generation  of  Churchmen  have  extended  over 
a  greater  extent  of  time,  and  exerted  a  wider,  better  or  more  con- 
tinuous influence  than  that  of  the  late  Doctor  Joseph  Packard, 
for  many  years  the  Dean,  and  for  sixty-five  years  a  professor  and 
professor  emeritus  of  the  Theological  Seminary  in  Virginia.  He 
came  to  the  Virginia  Seminary  in  1836,  and  there  is  no  man  liv- 
ing who  graduated  at  the  Seminary  prior  to  that  date.  We 
realize  how  long  ago  this  teaching  work  began  when  we  recall 
that  Bishop  Payne,  of  the  African  Mission,  graduated  the  first 
year  of  Doctor  Packard's  connection  with  the  Seminary.  Since 
that  time  many  hundreds  of  men  have  gone  out  from  the  old 
School  of  the  Prophets,  which,  from  its  beautiful  hill,  overlooks 
the  National  Capital,  and  all  of  them  have  borne  to  a  greater  or 
less  degree  the  impress  of  his  character  as  a  man  and  as  a  teacher. 
None  of  them  will  ever  forget  his  beautiful  simplicity  of  charac- 
ter, his  singleness  of  purpose  and  his  utter  guilelessness  and  sin- 
cerity. Nor  will  any  of  them  ever  forget  his  wonderful  and 
luminous  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  It  was  indeed  to  him  the 
Book  of  all  books.  He  loved  it  with  all  his  heart,  and  he  studied 
it  so  closely  that  merely  to  hear  him  read  a  chapter  was  finer 
than  the  best  of  critical  or  exegetical  commentaries. 

"  As  he  went  in  and  out  on  the  Hill,  his  life  was  a  sermon  and 
a  benediction  ;  and  when  it  came  his  turn  to  talk  to  the  students 
in  "  Faculty  meeting,"  there  was  always  spiritual  food  for  many 
a  day  to  come,  and  a  spiritual  illumination  that  was  to  be  obtained 
in  no  other  way.  And  if  one  were  compelled  to  try  and  define 
the  most  prominent  traits  that  made  Doctor  Packard's  individ- 
uality, right  in  the  forefront  would  he  put  his  unworldliness 
and  guilelessness.     He  was  literally  in  the  world,  but  not  of  it. 


Editorial  of  Southern  Churchman.  353 

While  intellectually  in  touch  with  all  progress,  he  was  as 
untouched  and  as  uncontaminated  by  the  world  as  if  he  had  no 
part  or  lot  in  it.  One  thought  of  him,  not  as  belonging  to  the 
world,  but  as  one  set  apart ;  he  belonged  distinctly  to  '  the  Hill ' 
in  its  best  sense,  and  he  gave  character  and  tone  to  the  com- 
munity of  '  the  Hill '  in  which  he  spent  nearly  all  of  his  long, 
and  honorable,  and  useful  life. 

' '  The  profound  hold  he  had  on  his  old  men  was  attested  by  the 
solemn  and  touching  scene  we  witnessed  on  that  beautiful  day  in 
the  first  week  in  May  when  all  that  was  mortal  of  him  was  laid 
to  rest  in  that  beautiful  cemetery  on  Seminary  Hill,  where  rest 
so  many  of  the  heroes  of  our  Church.  There  were  gathered 
there  that  day  his  old  scholars  from  far  and  near,  and  each  had 
come  simply  to  pay  his  loving  tribute  to  a  good  man  and  great 
teacher.  There  were  old  students  from  Baltimore,  and  Philadel- 
phia, and  Washington,  and  Norfolk,  and  Richmond,  and  Alex- 
andria, and  a  wide  circle  of  surrounding  country,  and  they  all  came 
to  do  honor  to  the  influence  that  had  been  exerted  on  the  Hill  for 
two  generations,  and  will  be  exerted  and  felt  in  the  world  for 
generations  to  come.  The  full  chapel  attested  his  more  than  mere 
popularity,  and  the  hundreds  of  full  hearts  that  listened  to  Bishop 
Gibson's  reading  of  the  solemn  words  of  the  Committal  bore  wit- 
ness that  though  he  rested  from  his  labors  his  works  do  follow 
him. 

"Those  solemn  words  of  the  Burial  Service,  'We  give  thee 
hearty  thanks  for  the  good  example  of  all  those,  thy  servants, 
who,  having  finished  their  course  in  faith,  do  now  rest  from  their 
labors,'  were  never  more  befittingly  or  appropriately  prayed  on  any 
occasion  than  at  that  burial  on  Tuesday,  May  6.  He  had,  in- 
deed, been  an  example  to  the  young  clergy  whom  he  had  taught 
in  doctrine  and  in  manner  of  life.  His  example  had  taught  them 
more  mightily  than  words  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat 
and  drink,  but  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost.  And  though  he  had  been  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  and 
a  great  teacher  of  those  Scriptures,  his  example  of  single-minded- 
ness,  denial  of  worldly  ambitions,  and  devotion  to  spiritual  inter- 
ests, had  been  worth  more  than  any  or  all  teaching  besides. 

It  was  a  strange  sight :  to  see  old  gray-haired  veterans  in  the 
Church  Militant  there  as  his  old  students  ;  and  to  see  the  young 
men,  still  in  the  Seminary  of  his  love  and  care  and  devotion, 


354  Bishop  Gibson's  Tribute. 

bearing  his  body  to  its  last  resting  place.  He  loved  the  Seminary 
as  few  men  have  ever  loved  any  institution.  He  came  to  it  in 
the  early  days  of  its  struggles  and  trials,  when  friends  were  few 
and  means  were  limited  ;  and  he  saw  it  grow  and  increase  with 
the  passing  years.  He  taught  the  men  who  went  out  from  it  and 
made  its  name  known  wherever  this  Church  is  known.  He  was 
with  it  and  suffered  with  it  during  the  fiery  trials  of  the  Civil 
War.  He  saw  it  rise  later  from  its  prostrate  condition  and  reach 
its  present  high  and  honored  position  in  the  Church.  He  not 
only  saw  all  this,  but  he  was  a  great  and  essential  part  of  it  all. 
And  through  it  all,  he  loved  it  as  a  mother  loves  her  first-born, 
and  bore  it  in  his  heart  and  mind,  and  never,  in  all  those  years, 
swerved  in  his  love  and  loyalty.  And,  greater  still,  in  darkest 
hours,  and  most  trying  times,  he  never  for  one  moment  lost  faith 
in  the  mission  and  ultimate  success  of  the  school  of  his  love. 
He  could,  in  all  sincerity,  apply  to  his  love  for  the  old  Seminary 
the  words  of  Israel's  sweet  singer,  '  If  I  forget  thee,  O,  Jerusa- 
lem, let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning.  If  I  do  not  remem- 
ber thee  let  my  tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth.' 

"  And,  now,  gathered  to  his  fathers,  in  a  serene  and  ripe  old 
age,  he  rests  for  all  time  on  the  beautiful  grounds  of  the  Semi- 
nary he  loved  so  well,  waiting  for  the  resurrection  from  the  dead. 
And  we  who  knew  him  and  his  love  for  and  devotion  to  the  Semi- 
nary, where  he  practically  spent  his  life,  can  but  believe  it  will 
be  an  added  joy  to  him  that  when  the  trump  of  the  Arch- 
angel shall  call  him  to  respond  to  the  last  great  roll-call,  and 
hear  the  commendation,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant," 
he  will  go  in  the  resurrection  body  from  the  scene  of  his  labors 
and  his  love,  and  that  even  in  death  he  and  that  scene  are  not 
divided.  May  his  resting-place  and  his  memory  be  a  perpetual 
benediction  to  all  the  future  generations  of  Seminary  men." — 
Current  Comments  in  Southern  Churckma?i. 

Bishop  Gibson  in  his  address  to  Council,  1902,  said  : 
"  Early  in  this  month  Dr.  Packard  was  called  to  his  rest.  In 
a  certain  sense  the  speaker  was  his  Bishop,  but  in  a  sense  also  he 
was  to  the  Doctor  a  son  in  the  Gospel.  One  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful of  the  many  exquisite  gem-set  sermons  which  he  has  heard 
Dr.  Packard  preach  was  that  on  the  occasion  of  his  own  ordina- 
tion to  the  priesthood  in  Petersburg,  Va.     It  was  also  the  last  of 


MiNuTB  OF  Standing  Committee.  355 

those  sparkling  mosaics  of  the  Oriental  imagery  of  the  Bible 
which  he  was  privileged  to  enjoy.  If  the  religious  value  of  a 
rich  yet  subdued  and  chastened  fancy  was  ever  strikingly  dis- 
played in  any  man  whom  I  have  known,  that  man  was  Dr.  Pack- 
ard. It  lightened  his  learning,  it  colored  his  style,  it  brightened 
his  wit,  it  treated  with  a  delicate  charm  every  view  of  life  and 
its  passing  events.  He  was  faithful  and  good  and  holy  and 
lovely,  and  he  was  more — and  largely  because  of  his  possession 
of  that  form  of  imagination  which  we  call  fancy — he  was  delight- 
fully interesting.  What  an  advantage  it  was  to  study  the  Bible 
under  a  teacher  who  at  every  turn  caught  from  its  pages  on  some 
one  of  the  many  polished  facets  of  his  mind  a  new  and  unexpected 
light.  His  work  was  at  the  Seminary,  but  the  Diocese  cannot 
forget  that  his  heart  was  hers  and  that  his  memory  is  hers." 

Minute  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese  of  Virginia  : 
After  the  death  of  Dr.  Sparrow,  in  1874,  Dr.  Packard  was  elected, 
and  "  he  had  been  for  twenty-eight  years  its  President,  and,  until 
recently,  when  the  infirmities  of  age  prevented  his  leaving  home, 
had  taken  an  active  part  in  its  deliberations.  Profoundly 
interested  always  in  whatever  related  to  the  honor  and  well-being 
of  the  Diocese  and  of  the  general  Church,  his  doctrinal  sound- 
ness, good  judgment  and  practical  wisdom  were  a  valued  help  in 
guiding  the  decisions  of  the  committee,  and  they  will  be  seriously 
missed.  We  remember  him  with  hearty  reverence,  esteem  and 
affection,  and  desire  to  place  upon  record  this  testimonial  to  our 
successors  of  how  he  was  regarded  by  us." 

Resolutions  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Virginia  Seminary  : 
"Whereas,  in  the  providence  of  God,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Packard, 
D.  D.,  entered  into  life  eternal  on  the  3d  day  of  May,  1902. 

"  Now,  therefore,  this  Board  desires  to  put  upon  record  its  sense 
of  the  loss  sustained  by  it,  by  this  Seminary  and  by  the  Church, 
in  his  death.  For  sixty-five  years  connected  with  this  institution, 
as  professor,  as  dean,  and  as  professor  emeritus,  he,  throughout 
this  long  period,  never  wavered  in  his  affection  for  the  Seminary, 
in  his  loyalty  to  its  true  interests,  in  the  loftiness  of  the  ideals  as 
to  its  place  and  work  which  he  cherished.  His  long  life  here 
formed  a  link  binding  the  men  of  the  present,  to  those  of  the  past, 
and  his  reminiscences  of  the  men  who  lived  and  labored  then, 
extending  back  to  the  days  of  the  founders  of  the  Seminary,  kept 
alive  in  our  memories  the  traditions  and  inspirations  of  a  noble 
and  heroic  age. 


356  Tributes  of  Alumni. 

"The  tender  sympathy  which  marked  his  association  with 
those  who  sat  at  his  feet,  the  holy  simplicity  of  his  character,  the 
constancy  with  which  amid  all  the  changes  and  chances  of  life  he 
stood  always  for  truth  and  righteousness,  will  always  be  remem- 
bered by  us  and  by  all  associated  with  him  with  tender  and  rever- 
ential affection. 

"As  we  think  on  these  things  we  thank  God  for  the  good 
example  of  him,  who  '  having  finished  his  course  in  faith  doth 
now  rest  from  his  labors.'  " 

Rev.  Dr.  Carl  K.  Grammer  wrote  :  "  I  loved  your  father  very 
much,  and  shall  always  treasure  his  memory.  He  was  a  rare  and 
striking  personality,  and  he  had  a  warm  and  loving  heart.  He 
was  a  true  friend.  Then,  what  a  brave,  staunch  man  !  what  firm 
faith  !  what  loyal  love  !  what  spiritual  standards  unwaveringly 
held  !  Life  tested  him  long,  and  he  had  a  right  to  those  tri- 
umphant hymns.  He  told  me  once  that  at  his  funeral  he  wanted 
the  hymn  "The  strife  is  o'er."  I  want  to  take  a  leaf  out  of  his 
book,  and  cultivate  friendships  as  the  years  roll  round.  As  long 
as  the  Seminary  lasts  his  name  will  be  revered  as  a  spiritual 
father  of  the  Church.  I  can  see  the  Doctor,  with  his  great  gift 
of  sententious  utterance,  and  the  class  of  young  students  sitting 
about  him." 

Rev.  S.  S.  Ware  wrote  :  "  I  am  sure  that  no  student  appreciated 
more  than  I  the  beautiful  way  in  which  your  dear  father  '  opened 
to  us  the  Scriptures  ;'  hardly  a  Sunday  but  that  some  passage  that 
he  has  explained  occurs.  In  his  old  age  he  was  preaching  in  the 
Chapel  on  the  joys  of  serving  Christ,  and  he  raised  his  one  hand 
and  brought  it  down  in  emphasis  as  he  said  '  The  Christian's  last 
days  are  his  best. '  ' ' 

Rev.  W.  B.  Lee  wrote:  "All  the  powers  of  his  heart,  mind 
and  life  were  centered  in  a  faithful  effort  to  make  Christ,  His 
ways  and  salvation  known  unto  men.  His  life  was  a  real  bene- 
diction to  all  who  were  brought  under  his  teaching  and  influence. 
He  loved  the  Scriptures,  his  study  and  meditations  were  in  them. 
He  tried  to  kindle  alike  love  and  zeal  for  God  and  His  Word  in 
the  hearts  of  the  young  men  who  were  brought  under  his  influence. 
Like  the  prophet  Daniel  of  old  his  life  and  witness  for  God  and 
His  truth  seemed  to  have  been  too  valuable  to  have  been 
shortened. ' ' 


His  Resting  Place.  357 

Bishop  Randolph  wrote  :  ' '  There  is  nothing  but  purity  and 
love  and  the  highest  inspirations  and  influences  in  his  long  faith- 
ful Christian  life.  A  blessed  heritage  he  has  left  to  us  all  ! 
His  memory  must  live  in  the  Seminary  life  of  the  future  as  a 
sacred  influence  from  the  past." 

Bishop  Dudley  wrote  :  "I  shall  never  cease  to  give  thanks 
that  I  knew  him  and  loved  him  and  that  he  loved  me.  I  cannot 
tell  you  or  anybody  what  he  was  to  me  at  the  most  critical 
period  of  my  life.  Verily,  he  was  a  good  man,  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  of  faith. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lindsay  wrote  :  ' '  Year  after  year  whenever  I  met  Dr. 
Packard  I  found  myself  getting  nearer  and  nearer  to  him.  He 
grew  old  gracefully  in  every  sense.  Surely  he  fulfilled  his  mis- 
sion, made  the  best  of  himself,  did  the  most  with  his  opportuni- 
ties and  left  the  world  better  for  his  having  been  in  it." 

Miss  Maria  Harrison  wrote:  "Whenever  I  close  my  eyes  I 
seem  to  see  that  solemn  procession  winding  through  the  trees 
that  he  loved  so  well,  and  the  sound  of  the  sweet  '  Alleluia ' 
still  rings  in  my  ears.  Just  as  I  reached  the  chapel  door  they 
were  singing  that  line  '  The  golden  evening  brightens  in  the 
west. '  It  was  a  privilege  to  be  there  ;  such  a  lovely  service,  so 
suitable  for  him  after  his  blameless  life,  and  I  shall  always  think 
of  him  resting  in  that  quiet  spot.  We  can  say  with  such  confi- 
dence, '  Father,  in  thy  gracious  keeping,  leave  we  now  thy  ser- 
vant sleeping.'  "     We  can  quote  Timrod's  lines  : 

"  Whose  was  the  hand  that  painted  thee,  O  Death  ! 

In  the  false  aspect  of  a  ruthless  foe, 
Despair  and  sorrow  waiting  on  thy  breath — 

O  gentle  Power  !  who  could  have  wronged  thee  so  ? 

Thou  rather  should'st  be  crowned  with  fadeless  flowers, 

Of  lasting  fragrance  and  celestial  hue  ; 
Or  be  thy  couch  amid  funereal  bowers, 

But  let  the  stars  and  sunlight  sparkle  through. 

So,  with  these  thoughts  before  us,  we  have  fixed 

And  beautified,  O  Death  !  thy  mansion  here, 
Where  gloom  and  gladness — grave  and  garden — mixed. 

Make  it  a  place  to  love,  and  not  to  fear. 

Heaven  !  shed  thy  most  propitious  dews  around  ! 

Ye  holy  stars  !  look  down  with  tender  eyes, 
And  gild  and  guard  and  consecrate  the  ground 

Where  we  may  rest,  and  whence  we  pray  to  rise." 

23 


358  His  Resting  Pi,ace. 

Bishop  Penick  wrote  :  ' '  The  crowning  of  such  a  life  needs  no 
comforting.  It  is  glory,  all  glory.  Dr.  Packard  I  hold  to  be 
the  truest  man  I  have  met.  Words  cannot  express  the  strength 
and  comfort  his  life  was  and  is  to  mine.  Oh,  he  was  a  great  man 
just  because  he  was  always  trueness  itself  !  Nothing  but  sweet- 
ness, purity,  and  strength  did  Dr.  Packard's  life  ever  give  mine." 

[Many  other  beautiful  tributes  were  paid  and  sweet  letters  of 
comfort  received,  which  were  gratefully  appreciated  by  his 
family .  — Editor  .  ] 

FINIS. 


INDEX. 


Abbot,  Ezra 

Abbott,  J.  S.  C 

Adams,  George 

John 

JQ 

Addison,  T.  G 

W.  D 250, 

Adie,  George 

Alexander,  Dr 

Alexandria 72, 150-166, 

Allen,  W 

Ambler,  C.  E 

Amusements 

Andover 

Andrews,  C.  VV 

Anthon,  H 

Appleton  Brothers 

Arlington 

Aspinwall,  J.  h.  and  W.  A... 

Associations 

Atkinson,  Bishop  T 

B 


PAGE 

45 

36 
45 
23 

15, 259 
281 

252,  2S8 
224 
119 

280,  283 

46,51 
224 

24,25 

23,53 

214,  224 

218 

313,314 

156 

312 

232 

73,  223 


PAGE 

Brattleboro 52 

Brazil  Mission I45 

Brethren,  Meeting  of  the 309 

Bridgewater 6,11 

Briggs,  C.  A 304 

Bristol  College 63-66 

Brooke,  J.  T 86, 196 

Brooks,  A 3o7 

P 171,172,298-307 

Brown,  A 3^3 

John 258 

R.  T 93 

Bruce,  Charles 217 

Bryan,  C.  B.  and  J no 

Bryant,  Wm.  and  H 225 

Buchanan,  President 263 

Buck,  C.  E 91 

J.  A 63,90,91 

Bunker  Hill 12 

Burgess,  Bishop  George 131 

Burial  Customs 51 

Busby,  Dr 23 

Butler,  Ben 225 

C.  M 253 


Baker,  F.  M 235 

Baldwin,  Dr 215 

Bancroft,  G 16 

L.  W 324 

Bass,  Bishop 69,70 

Beall,  Upton 225 

Beatty,  A 320 

Beauregard,  Gen 267,  270 

Bedell,  Bishop 65,  230,  293 

Beecher,  Lyman 46 

Bellamy,  Dr 62 

Berrien,  Judge 221 

Binney,  H 8 

Birth 4 

Bishops,  Trials  of 134,^35 

Black  Gown 309 

Blackford,  C.  M 215 

L.  M 191,268 

W.  M 216 

Blake,  J 3^4 

Bohlen  family 313 

Bolton,  C.  W 320 

Booth,  Capt 281 

Boone,  Bishop 140,  223,  291 

Boston 52 

Boyden  Family 87 

Boyhood 18 

Bowdoin  College 34-36 

Braddock,  General 150 

Bradford,  Alden 15 


Cambridge 12,  14, 16 

Capitol 258 

Carter,  Lucius I33 

Mary 243 

R.  S 327 

Carraway,  G.  S 235 

Castleman,  T.  T 215 

R.  A 216 

Cazenove  Family 163 

Chalmers,  Thomas 176 

Chambers,  T.  W 33i 

Chambers,  Judge  E 221 

Chase,  Bishop 126 

H.  A 236 

Chelmsford I5,  i? 

Chesley,  J.  H 233,314 

Chicago 105 

Chickahominy 276 

Children's  Books 27 

Chisholm,  J 146 

Christ  Church I55, 156 

Christian,  Rev.  Mr 214 

Christmas 39 

Church  Festivals 5° 

Usages 20,  21, 130 

Claggett,  Bishop 132 

Clark,  J.  T 170,210 

W.J 225 


359 


360 


Index. 


PAGE 

Classics 33 

Claxton,  R.  B 230 

Clay,  Henry 253 

Clements,  J 23 

S 321 

Cleveland,  Parker 39 

Closing  Services 148,  208 

Coal 32 

Cobbs,  N.  H 218 

Cochran,  Dr 278 

Cole,  John 148,277 

College  Life 33-38 

Colton,  C 63 

Confirmation 5° 

Congregationalism 48, 126 

Conrad  Brothers 268 

Conventions,  Virginia 209-218 

General 218-223 

Conversion 47 

Conway,  M.  D 308 

Cooke,  Jay 3^3 

Cotton 109 

Craighill,  W.  P 251 

J.  B 251 

Crawford,  Angus 327,351 

House 105 

Cresson,  E 3^3 

Crosswell,  A 320 

Currie,  C.  G 295 

Custis  Family 156 


Dalrymple,  E.  A 187 

S.  B 229 

Dame,  G.  W 211 

W.  M 284 

Dana,  C.  B 68,73 

Dashiell,  T.  G 217 

Davis  Family 322 

Davis,  H.  Winter 152,  183,  281 

Jefferson 263 

Day,  G.  E 33^ 

Dehon,  Bishop 287 

DeKoven,  Dr 299 

Dennison,  H.  M 234 

Doane,  Bishop  G.  VV 127 

Dobson,  Miss  Mary 85,  237 

Dodge,  A.  P 313 

Dresser,  Charles 85 

Drinking  Customs 32 

Duane,  R.  B 321 

Dudley,  Bishop 325,335,356 

Duelling 109 

Duhring,  H.  L 265 

Duval,  W 235 

Duy,  A.  W 235 

Dyer,  H 313,335 


E 

PAGE 

Earnest,  J 231 

Eastburn,  Bishop 7i,3oo 

Eighteenth  Century  Ways...  9 

Elliott,  J.  H 91,  324 

Emerson,  R.  W 46 

Professor 55 

Empie,  Adam 223 

Endowment 85,  149 

Episcopal  Church 48-50,  127-130 

High  School 181-192 

Eternity 47 

F 

Faber,  F.  W 334 

Faculty  Meetings 177,306,315 

Fairfax  County 106 

Family 161 

Emily  C 240 

Falls  Church 142 

Family  Prayers 31 

Father,  My 12-17,51,338 

Fauquier  County 112,  267,  276 

Fisher,  Andrew 234 

Fishing 164 

Food II 

Forgery 9 

Forrest,  D.  F 325 

Franklin,  B 162,247 

French,  J.  F 252,297 

Friend,  Wm 224 

Frost  family 8 

Fugue  Tunes 29 

Fuller,  Dr 222 

Chief  Justice 34, 4i 

G 

Gahagan,  W 321 

Gaines  Case 115 

Gardner,  C 152 

W.  F 151,191,275 

Garnett,  J.  M.  and  T 73 

Gas 32 

Gibson,  C.J 65 

Bishop 351,354 

Gilliss,  L.  T 254 

Gilmer,  T.  W 261 

Glebes 160 

Good,  C.J 63,79 

Goodwin,  D.  R 35,43 

Family 72 

Goodrich,  Charles 225 

Goss 46 

Grammer,  C.  E 323,351,355 

James 73 

J.E 321 

John 86 


Index. 


361 


PAGE 

Gray,  G.  Z 305,  3U 

Mrs.  G.  Z 314 

Horatio ..  314 

John 84,86 

Green,  B 327,351 

W.  H 331 

Griffith  Family 81 

Griswold,  Bishop 71,288 

H 

Hackett,  H.  B 23 

Hadley,  Judge 17 

Hale,  E.  E 18 

Hamilton,  Mrs.  Alex 219,257 

Hamlin,  Cyrus 43,45 

Hammond,  J.  P 320 

Harlem  Heights 13 

Hanckel,  J.  Stuart 245 

Hanson,  Elizabeth 227 

F.  R 139 

Hare,  G.  E 33° 

Harris,  W.  A 225 

Harrison,  G 102 

H.  T.  and  Hall....  224 

Miss  Maria 356 

Harvard  College 15 

Havemeyer,  Mr 333 

Hawks,  C.  S 223 

F.  L 219-223 

Nest 103 

Hawley,  Rev.  Mr 252 

Hawthorne,  N.  P 9,21,34,44 

Hayden,  H.  E 195 

Hazlehurst,  S 232 

Hebrew  Study 55 

Henderson,  Dr.  and  Gen....  78 

Hening,  E.  W 143 

Henshaw,  D 235 

Bishop 238 

Herbert  Family 161 

Herrick,  O.  E 240 

Higginson,  T.  W 306 

Hill,  J.  H 139 

Rowland 247 

Hilliker,  A.  M 327 

Hilton,  Mrs.  S.  B 17 

Hodge,  Charles 194-196,  226 

Hodges,  W 225 

Hoffman,  C.  C 144,316 

Hooff,  C.  R 284 

Holmes,  Abiel 16 

Home  Life 10,  11,  26,  31 

Hopkins,  Bishop 128 

Mrs 229 

Hoxton,  L 192 

Hubbard,  J.  P 322 

Hurlgate 12 

Hymns 27,  28 


I 

PAGE 

Ingle,  E 109 

E.  H 275 

Irish,  W.N 189 

J 

Jackson,  President 260 

T.  J 267-270 

W.  M 145 

Jefferson,  Thomas 137,260 

Jerome,  J.  A 266 

Jesup,  M.  K 332 

Johns,  A.  S 206 

Bishop.  ..136, 193-206,  214,  226 

H.  V.  D 251 

John 313 

Johnston,  Gen.  J.  E 267 

Rev.  Mr 74 

Jones,  Alex 218,248 

Anne  and  IvOt 314 

Cornelia 325 

Roger  and  Mary  A 216 

Rosina 118, 120 

Sophia 313 

SpencerC 116 

Walter 114-118 

K 

Keate,  Dr 187 

Keeling,  R.J 324 

Keith,  Cleveland 144 

Reuel 93-97 

Kemp,  Bishop 289 

Kennon,  Mrs.  Beverly 262 

Kent,  Rebecca  P 341 

Key,  F.  S 229,251 

Kinckle,  W.  H 90 

King's  Bridge 13 

Kinsolving,  A.  B 215 

Bishop  L,.  1/ 145 

Ovid  A 248 

L 

Laird,  W.  H 325 

Lakes,  Trip  on 281 

Lamar  Family 182 

Latane 200 

Lawrence,  Amos 69 

Bishop 69,343 

Lav,  Bishop 186,236 

G.  W 187 

Leakin,  G.  A 233 

Lear,  Tobias 152 

Leavell,  W.  T 63,65,90,93 

Lee,  Bishop  Alfred 330 

AnneandChas.-..8, 117, 164,265 


362 


Index. 


PAGE 

lite,  C.  F 162,  215 

E.  1 160 

Henry 153 

Gen.  R.  E 156-158 

W.  H.  F 51,  «o,  158,  216,  267 

W.  B 356 

Library 315 

Liggett  Hall 192 

Liggins,  John 147 

Lincoln,  President 280 

Lindsay,  J.  S 68,304,356 

Lippett,  E.  R 83,  92,  214 

Little,  G.  T 7 

Lloyd,  Mrs.  Harriet 118 

Locke,  Tohu 338 

"T.  E loi 

Lockwood,  Henry 139 

W.  F 231,  232 

Long  Bridge 259 

Island 13 

Longfellow,  H.  W 36,41,42 

Lord,  Dr 24 

Lyman 54 

M 

Mackenheimer,  G.  L 84 

Manassas,  Battle  of. 267 

Marginal  Readings 334 

Marple,  A.  A 239 

Marriage 118 

Marshall,  Claudia 237 

W.  L 80 

Martin,  T.  F 314 

Martyrs 144-146 

Mason  Family 159 

George 155 

Jeremiah 69,295 

Massey,  Lee 154 

Massie,  R 327 

Matthews,  John 328 

Maxcy,  V 262 

Maxwell,  J.  G 228 

May,  James 167,  173-180,  265 

Dr.  Frederick 279 

Mayo,  C.J.  S 276 

McElhinney,  J.  J 245 

McFarland,  M 231 

McGuire,  E.  C 98,218 

E.  B 233 

Grace  F 326 

J-P 189,264 

Mcllvaine,  Bishop 288,292 

McKim,  R.  H 155,275,313 

McManus,  F.  E 328 

Mead,  Asa 45 

Meade,  Bishop 131-138,  292 

R.  K 225 

W.  H.  and  F.  A 225 


PAGE 

Melrose 119 

Meredith,  W.  C 235,267 

Meteoric  Shower 54 

Micou,  R.  W 327 

Miller,  Dr.  Thomas 259,  277-280 

Minge,  David no 

Minnigerode,  C 243-245 

Minor,  L.  B 141,  216 

Missionaries 139-147 

Mitchell,  J.  A 275 

Moore,  Bishop 122-125 

Morals 16,  75 

Morris,  J.  W 145 

Morrison,  A.  M 295 

Morse,  S.  F.  B 18 

Morsell,  Joshua 233,  282 

Judge 250 

Mount  Vernon 151 

Muhlenberg,  Dr 220 

Murdaugh,  E.  C.  235 

N 

Natural  Bridge 103 

Neilson,  W.  H 265,327 

Nelson,  C.  K 90 

Kinloch  268,326 

R 236 

Tom 249 

Newman 22,  24,  39,51 

Newport 14 

New  York 42 

Noland,  C 276-278 

Norfolk  Convention 210 

Norris,  A 79 

Norton,  G.  H 218,  237-239 

Norwood,  W.  and  J.  J 248 

o 

Ontonagon 282 

Ordination 68,  73 

Osgood,  Howard 331 

Otey,  Bishop 125 

Ott,  Mr 278 

P 

Packard,  A.  S 4i,343 

Charles 341 

Mrs.  Charles 52,  34l 

C.  W 52 

F.  A 345 

George 52,175,342 

Hezekiah 15-17,  31,  338 

Dr.J.H 279,345 

Kate 278 

Mary 339 

Sarah 344 


Index. 


363 


PAGE 

Packard,  Walter  J 276 

William 282,340 

Page,  Carter 96 

C.  H 216 

F 67 

John 66,185 

J.  J 103,329 

R.  L 217 

T.  Nelson 66 

Parker,  H.M I45 

Parks,  E.  A 7° 

M.  P 211,218 

Parris,  A.  K 26 

Payne,  Bishop 140 

Peacemaker 262 

Pendleton,  W.  H 234 

W.  N 63,184,268 

Penick,  Bishop 316,  357 

Penny  Postage 248 

Periodicals 27 

Peterkin,  Joshua 225,276 

Bishop 228 

Peyton,  R.  E 112,  267,  284 

Anne  L 271 

Phelps,  A 50 

Philadelphia 2 

Phillips  Academy 22 

Pierce,  President 262 

Pins 2 

Pittsburg 2 

Pohick  Church I55 

Polk,  Bishop 125 

Pollock,  W 86 

Poolesville 279 

Post-office 247 

Potomac  River 105 

Potter,  Bishop  A I37,  291 

Bishop  Henry 311 

Bishop  Horatio 330 

Preachers,  War 271 

Prescott,  W.  H 297 

Prentiss,  S.  S 255 

Princeton  (frigate) 262 

Q 

Quincy,  Josiah 22 

Quintard,  Bishop 275 

R 

Ramsay,  Wm.  150 

Rand,  John 45 

Randolph,  Bishop 100,356 

John 109 

Ravenscroft,  Bishop 213,  296 

Reading,  W 257 

Reinicker,  G SM 

Revision  of  the  Bible 330 


PAGE 

Revivals 100 

Revolution 12-19 

Rhett  Family 23 

Richmond 216 

J.  B 234 

Ridout,  S 236 

Robert,  P.  G 321 

Robertson,  B 283 

W.  H.  C 315 

Rockbridge  Battery 268 

Rogers,  W.  B 304 

Rooker,  W.  Y 231 

Rumney,  T,  S 321 

Rumsey 234,  284 

s 

Sabbath  Observance 21,29 

Salem 21 

Salutatory 41,43 

Savage,  Dr.  Thomas  S 142 

SchafF,  P 330-332 

School  Life n,  16,  18,  22 

Scott,  J.J 90,92 

Semi-Centennials 90,  34^ 

Seminary,  The  Virginia. ...88,  309-319 

Sewall  Family 8 

Sharon 301 

Sheepscot  River 18 

Skinner,  Professor 54 

Skipwith,  Helen 184 

Slaughter,  P 102,  115, 122 

Slavery 107-111 

Smedes,  A.  and  J.  E.  C 218 

Smith,  G.  A 82 

H.  B 45,50 

Joshua 143 

Smyth,  J 18,  19,40 

Southern  Churchman 65 

Life 106 

Sparrow.  Wm 167-172,  218,  302 

Spring  Family 7,8 

St.  Luke's  Church 156 

Mary's  School 218 

Thomas'  Hall 220 

Standing  Committee 355 

Staunton 103,  214 

Steamboat 5 

Stevens,  Bishop 321 

Stockton,  Captain 262 

Stone,  J.  S 68,294-296 

Story,  Judge 15 

Stoves 21,25 

Stovin,  Charles 276 

Stribling,  Commodore 210 

Dr 216,274 

Stringfellow,  H 253 

Strong,   G.  S 33i 

Stuart,  G.  C 327 


364 


Indkx. 


PAGE 

Stuart,  Moses 55-62 

Dr.  Richard 105 

Sunday-schools 30 

Surplice 309 

Suter,  Henderson 246 

Syle,  E.  W 234 

T 

Taylor,  C.  A 163 

Teaching  Experiences 24 

Temple,  H.  W.  L 98 

Thanksgiving  Day 26 

Tillinghast,  N.  P 233 

Timrod,  Henry 357 

Tinder  Box 26 

Tobacco 106 

Towles,  J 225 

Tractarianism 223 

Trials  of  Bishops 134 

Trinity  Church 120 

Trollope,  Mrs.  A 257 

Troutbeck,  Canon 332 

Trustees 355 

Tucker,  Mrs.  Mary 73,  344 

Tyler,  Bennett 47 

Pres.  J 235,261 

Tyng,  D.  A 239,287 

S.  H 287-294 

u 

Unitarianism 46,  56,  57 

University  of  Virginia 102 

Upham,  Professor 40 

Upshur,  Abel  P 262 

V 

Van  Buren,  President 260 

Vanderbilt,  W.  H 332 

Vaucluse i6r 

Vinton,  Alex.  H 296-299 

Virginia,  Convention 207-213 

Financial  System.  106-108 

Hospitality 112 

w 

Wainwright,  Bishop 291,296 

Walke,  Lewis 234 


PAGE 

Walker,  Cornelius 326 

E.  T 233 

Wall,  Henry  and  Edward...  284 

Wallace,  J.  S 314 

Wallis,  S.  A 327,348-350 

Walpole 52 

War  Times 264 

Ware,S.  S 356 

Warren,  Dr 12 

Washington  City 250-263 

George 14,151-155 

Hannah 234 

Mount 105 

Watts,  Isaac 28 

Webster,  Daniel 255 

Weems,  M.  L, 154 

Weyer's  Cave 104 

Wharton,  F 129 

Wheat,  J.  C 98 

J.T 86 

White  Mountains 104 

Sulphur  Springs 102 

Whittle,  F.  M...185,  214-217,  239-242 

Wildes,  G.  D 234 

Williams,  Bishop  John 311 

J-   H 235 

Pelham 301 

Wilmer,  J.  P.  B 183 

Joseph 327 

Lemuel 231 

R.  H 90, 18],  232 

Simon 183 

Skipwith 183 

W.  H 78-83 

Dr.  W.  H 93 

Wilson,  W.  D 52 

Woodrow 33 

Wingfield,  Bishop 324 

Winston,  Dr.  1 162 

Winthrop,  R.  C 258 

Wiscasset 5,  8,  15-20 

Wise,  H.  A 137,260,302 

Woart  Brothers 181 

Wolflf,  Joseph 146 

Wyatt,  Dr 218 

Wyman,  S.  G 313 

z 

Zimmer,  W.  1 320 

Zimmerman,  J.  R ,.  282 


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